


The Wish

by Verya



Series: Derek/Stiles AU Scenes [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: All the tags eventually, Alpha Derek, Canon-Typical Violence, Caring Derek, Derek Feels, Derek Hale Can Have Nice Things, Derek and Stiles have seven kids, Feels, Female Stiles Stilinski, Fluff, Genderswap, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Sex, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Nogitsune, Original Character(s), Other, Parenthood, Pregnancy, Stiles Feels, non-graphic birth, sterek
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-05-14 22:07:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 52,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5760661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verya/pseuds/Verya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek saves the life of a genie and inadvertently wishes to meet his soulmate, the woman who would love him no matter what.  The genie takes it literally.  While Stiles and Derek try to figure out what happened, they end up becoming closer than they planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Wish Granted

**Author's Note:**

> Possible Triggers: This fic will deal with non-consensual gender swapping and some issues that go along with it.
> 
>  
> 
> No idea where this came from...just let it happen internet...just let it happen...No idea when this meshes in the plot line of the show so make it up as you go along.
> 
>  
> 
> And then let me know what you think. (please - pretty please with a cherry on top!)

“Look out!”  Derek shouted, picking up the woman about his age and dodging out of the way of the truck.  She screamed as she held onto him and the truck slammed on it’s breaks.  “Are you all right?”  Derek asked the young woman he’d just tackled. She was shaking under his hands, her breath coming in small pants that had him fearing she’d pass out from hyperventilation.  “Hey, deep breaths ok?  Breathe slowly.”

 

“Oh my God,” the driver said, tumbling out of the vehicle.  “Is she all right? I didn’t even see her, she was in my pillar.”

 

“I’m…I’m ok…” she said after a moment.  “I think I’m ok…I’m ok right?”

 

“She’s fine, just a little shaken,” Derek said to the truck driver, not smelling blood on her.  “You ok?”

 

“I think I had a heart attack but otherwise fine,” he said, ignoring the people honking at his stopped truck, “You sure you’re ok?”

 

“I’ll stay with her, you go ahead,” Derek said, grabbing his grocery bag from where he’d dropped it on the ground.  Thankfully nothing was broken and he didn’t have to go back to the store.  “Ok, how about we get you something to drink and make sure you’re really ok.  I’m Derek.”

 

“Jinny,” she replied, still shaken.  So much so that he barely put his hand on her elbow and she was permitting him to lead her into the coffee shop and up to the counter.

 

“Jinny,” the barista said, ducking out from behind the counter.  “Oh my god that was you?  Are you ok?”

 

“She’s fine, just a little shaken,” Derek answered.  “Can we get some tea for her?”  Jinny rattled off her phone number for rewards on muscle memory.  “You sure you’re ok?”

 

“I’m fine,” Jinny said, “And please, let me buy you coffee, I need to pay you back.  You did just save my life.”

 

“It’s all right,” Derek said, shifting uncomfortably under the gratitude, he honestly wasn’t used to it.

 

“Please,” Jinny said, putting her hand on his arm and holding it tightly, eyes locking with his.  "Sit with me and let me buy you something to drink."

 

Derek sighed.  “No problem.  Cup of coffee?”

 

“How would you like that sir?”  The barista asked, ready to whip something up from the menu as he handed her the tea.

 

“Black,” Derek replied.

 

“I still can’t thank you enough,” Jinny said, returning from the sugar counter with her tea and Derek led her to a table in the back corner, his own plain coffee in hand.  “I feel like an idiot, if I could have anything it would be to just roll over in bed this morning and pretend the day didn’t happen.”  Derek nodded and took a few sips of his coffee, if Stiles had taught him anything its that people talked their way out of traumatic experiences rather than deal with it quietly.  “What about you, if you could have anything in the world?  What would it be?”

 

“If I could have anything,” Derek answered, surprised he opened his mouth, “It’d be to meet the woman who would love me just for me, no agenda, just me.  If she’s out there somewhere, I’d like to meet her.”

 

“Your soulmate,” Jinny said, her eyes narrowing, “That’s it?  Anything in the world and you just want to meet your soulmate?  Not a billion dollars or a private island with a jet?”

 

“That weird or something?”  Derek shrugged, still confused why he was even responding to the sudden question, or why he had even agreed to sit down in the first place.

 

“Nope,” Jinny replied, “Most people say money when they want something from someone, you’re a tough cookie though.  You want someone, someone who may or may not exist.”

 

“Or someone who’s already dead,” Derek practically spat, thinking back to Paige.

 

“Nope,” Jinny continued with a small smile.  “Thanks for sitting with me Derek, and for you know…saving my life…”  She took a sip of her tea and whatever compelling force that had kept Derek there talking to her lifted.

 

“Well, be more careful,” Derek said with a farewell nod.

 

Jinny smiled after him and pulled out her little pocket book, “Derek Hale, all information.”  Red ink began to twist and swirl over the page, giving Jinny all the information she would need to complete her investigation of the man.  She owed him after all, nothing wrong with granting a freebee to a good guy once a century or so.  "Soulmate huh?  Let's take a look."

 

* * *

 

Stiles woke up the next day feeling a little more groggy than usual and scrubbed a hand through his hair.  He attributed it to the stress he always felt when his dad had to pull a double shift.  The bad part of being a Sheriff in a small town was when the deputy got sick, there was no one else to cover the desks.  Stiles shuffled to the bathroom and turned the light on, pulling out his shaving kit to see if he needed to touch up before going to school.  He looked into the mirror and let out a soul-wrenching shriek, turning around but not seeing anyone, then back to the mirror at the girl looking back at him.  He touched his face, it was smooth, his hands were more delicate, hair just a bit finer, hips wider, and he had boobs.  “What the fuck,” he said, his voice higher pitched then usual.  Stiles stopped, pronouns were going to be hard now that he was a she.  His hands shot between his legs and he collapsed against the wall in a dead faint.

 

* * *

 

When Stiles blinked awake again it was 8:30am, with little else to do he got ready for the day and pulled on familiar but now ill-fitting cloths on.  He…she…pronouns were hard… called in at school with a nasally voice proclaiming he was to sick to come in today and his father didn’t call because he was on shift.  He thanked everything above that the school always gave him a bit of a pass on calling out late since his father was not always home.  Stiles then texted his dad saying he had caught the bug going around class and was going to stay home to try and get rid of it early.  His dad told him to feel better and to text him if Stiles needed him to pick up meds from the store.  Stiles then texted a “Something weird!” alert to the everyone and paced nervously around his living room, wondering which one would get there first.  When Stiles had calmed down enough to think in a straight line, his heart hit the bottom of his shoes, the pack members were all in school, that only left one other person free to respond to him.

 

A knock came at the door, more of a pounding really, so that meant…  “Stiles,” a gruff voice sounded, “Stiles, what’s wrong, open up or I’m breaking in a window.”  Stiles unlocked the door and let the brooding werewolf in, who swept past him.  “Hi, I’m Derek a friend of Stiles, I got a text that something was wrong, is he in his room?”  Derek didn’t wait before half running to the stairs.

 

“Derek,” Stiles said, pursing his lips and locking the door behind him.  “Stop, I’m right here.”

 

Derek stopped short and stared at the girl in front of him wearing Stiles’ cloths.  “What?”

 

“Yeah, that’s what I said,” Stiles agreed, “Still kinda panicking, but…uh…yeah, girl now.”

 

“What?”  Derek asked again.

 

“Look,” she said, turning her head to the side where the exact same pattern of moles dotted her skin.  “See, it’s me.”

 

Derek’s brain had short circuited, the girl had delicate features and short brown hair cut the same way as Stiles.  He could still see his pack mate though, the shape of the eyes and the button nose were still the same.  Everything else had changed, and Derek was ashamed to admit that Girl Stiles was very attractive.  Even under the baggy flannel and jeans he could tell Stiles had a few curves going on, just as Boy Stiles was in shape.  “Uh…I got nothing…” Derek finally blurted out.

 

“Nothing, that’s really helpful while I’m panicking,” Stiles resumed pacing, arms flailing as always but now Derek saw a little more grace to the movement.  “ _I’ve_ got nothing that would have set this off, everything was normal last night and then boom!  I wake up with boobs and my dick is gone.”  Derek continued staring as Stiles appeared to be waiting for an answer.  “Did you hear me Derek - my dick is gone!  How would you feel if you woke up and suddenly your penis is missing?”

 

“Not gonna lie,” Derek said, his eyebrows scrunching, “I’m still trying to process the fact you’re a girl.”

 

“That makes two of us but what am I supposed to do?”  Stiles asked, still pacing.  “My dad is going to be home in a few hours and I am a girl.  You want to figure out how to explain this?”  Stiles cupped the pert breasts hidden by his flannel shirt.  “Seriously, I have boobs.”

 

Derek’s brain was still trying to reconcile Stiles with the pretty girl in front of him groping herself.  “Um…is there anything that could explain this in any of the books you’ve been reading?”

 

“I’m the only magic user that we know of in the area,” Siltes continued, “And this would be some serious magic, there’s no way someone this powerful would have avoided anyone’s detection.  I mean, I just don’t know what I’m going to do…” Uncontrollable tears began to fall from Siltes’ eyes.  “I don’t want to be this…not me and I can’t figure out why I’m crying.”

 

“Well, thankfully I had sisters,” Derek said, walking over and hugging Stiles into his chest.  Derek could not help but feel how nice it was to be needed and know that Stiles didn’t have an agenda here, he just needed help, and Derek actually could do something this time.  “First things first, let all the tears out and then we’re going to start working the problem ok?”

 

“I’m not a fucking girl and I’m not your fucking sister,” Stiles raged, not trying to get out of Derek’s grip.  He didn’t want to say how nice it was to be held by the arms he looked at so often.

 

“No, but you’re the most powerful magic user I’ve met,” Derek said, “So we’ll find a way to hide this from your dad and then we’ll figure out what happened to you.”  Derek tried not to think about the way his chin fit so neatly on top of Stiles’ head and just let himself comfort another person.

 

Stiles hated that Derek was right, once he’d gotten over his panic he felt a lot better.  Derek helped him research what could have caused his change, who was explaining to the rest of the pack via text that something magical was happening and not to worry.  "Ok," Derek said, closing his phone, "Scott's called off.  You sure you don't want his pack over to help?"

 

"The last thing I need is Scott panicking," Stiles said, flipping through old books, "What I need is help setting up a glamor, you can help me with that.  Grab the sea salt, four candles and meet me upstairs."  Derek nodded and grabbed the supplies, following Stiles up the stairs as he...she...set everything up.

 

"Pronouns are going to be hard now, aren't they," Derek said, not realizing he'd said it aloud.

 

"Still a guy," Stiles replied, leaning over to pour the salt in a circle.

 

Derek quickly looked up, hoping his beard would hide the blush he could feel rising to his cheeks.  "Uh, Stiles, top button."

 

"What?"  Stiles asked, looking up and giving the older male an even clearer view down the open neck of the shirt.

 

"Do up your top button," Derek said again, finding the ceiling quite interesting.  Stiles looked down and gasped, straightening up, fumbling to completely button the flannel shirt.

 

"Not one word," Stiles tried to growl, cursing the high tone of her new voice.  Derek shook his head and continued to help Stiles set up the magic circle before Stiles completed the incantation and was surrounded by a glowing light that slowly faded.  “Ok,” Stiles said, looking and sounding the same as he had the previous day.  “How’d it work?”

 

“You look like a boy again,” Derek agreed, he could just see the smaller bone structure because he was looking for it but if he had not been it was not noticeable.  “Let’s see…”  He reached out and touched Stiles’ shoulder.  “Can still feel the difference though.”

 

“Gonna have to come up with a reason my dad can’t hug me,” Stiles grumbled, packing up the spell supplies.  “This is gonna suck to do every morning.”

 

“You’ll figure it out,” Derek consoled him as he helped clean up the circle.

 

“What if I don’t?”  Stiles asked.  “What am I supposed to do, be a girl for the rest of my life?  This isn’t me Derek?  You don’t know what it’s like to not feel like yourself.”

 

“That’s true,” Derek agreed, sitting in the chair next to the bed, “Kate just used me.”

 

Stiles looked like a kicked puppy as he set the ingredient on top of his blanket.  “Oh shit Derek, you know that’s not what I meant…I’m sorry.”  Stiles stepped back in closer and wrapped his arms around Derek’s shoulders and setting his chin on top of Derek’s.  Derek sighed, smelling the scent change on Stiles and taking the selfish moment to appreciate it.  The scent hadn’t really changed, it was still based on everything he used and that underlaying scent that was just Stiles, but it was just a hint sweeter than it usually was.  Just enough for him to notice and to relax in it.  “I didn’t mean to be an asshole.”

 

“I know, it’s just, it would have been Laura’s birthday this weekend,” Derek admitted.  Stiles kept his frame still, Derek never opening up easily about his past and was probably trying to make Stiles feel better.  “Everything’s just a little close to the surface right now, and now someone’s attacking my pa...you…I just keep thinking back to that.  Sorry, didn't mean to bring all that back up, I just don't like the idea of someone screwing with my friends right now.”

 

“Hey,” Stiles said, awkwardly, trying to be comforting, “They’re not trying to kill us yet?  Bright side?”

 

Derek actually laughed at that.  “At least we know you haven’t lost your personality.”  He stood up and grabbed a stack of books.  "Which one you want first?"

 

"Give me Soyga," Stiles said, taking the third book down.  "Want to start on Maledictions?"

 

"No chance this is a lacrosse rivalry taken in a weird way?"  Derek asked, flipping through the first few pages.  "I don't know what high schoolers are into today, could be a thing."  Stiles rolled his eyes and turned back to the text, trying to find out what had made him change.  Several hours later, they had no luck.  Derek had to leave before the Sheriff got home but promised to help with research back at the loft.  Sadly, there did not seem to be an apparent solution.

 

* * *

 

“Hi Sheriff Stilinski,” Derek said, sitting at the table with a bottle of whiskey on the table.  He figured the man would need a drink after everything he was about to say.  That or Stiles would need something to bash him over the head with once she got home and found out he had broken in to talk to her dad.

 

“Derek, what are you doing here?”  The older man asked.  “How did you get in?”

 

“It’s about Stiles,” Derek said, his mouth set in the thin line.

 

Derek didn’t miss the way the Sheriff’s hand drifted towards his gun belt.  “What’s going on?”

 

“There’s a pretty long story,” Derek said, “And it may cause you to panic, but we don’t really have the time for that.  The deal is there’s a lot of shit going on that most humans don’t know anything about, and you’ve been kept out of the loop to keep you safe.”

 

“I don’t understand,” Stilinski said, standing next to the table.

 

“I’m a werewolf and your son is a mage in training and right now something magical is affecting him,” Derek said.  “I know you don’t believe me, so let me just show you.  Can you take off your gun first?  Stiles doesn’t like blood and I really don't want to get shot again.”

 

“Yeah, ok,” Stilinski joked, crossing his arms.

 

“You shoot me and I’m letting Stiles deal with you,” Derek said, his eyes flashing as he shifted.  The Sheriff jumped back a few feet and screamed out in fear, his gun clearing his holster as his training kicked in.  Derek was faster and removed the gun from Stilinski’s hands.  “Told you.  Now calm down ok?”

 

“What the fuck?”  Stilinski gasped out, staring at Derek.

 

Before Derek could say anything the front door opened, he must not have heard the jeep when he was focusing on the gun.  “Hey Dad, I’m home, what do you…” Stiles turned the corner and saw partially transformed Derek removing the clip from her father’s pistol.  The glamor shifted slightly when Stiles lost concentration but was in place before the Sheriff looked at her.  “What the hell Derek!  I told you I didn’t want him involved.”

 

“We don’t have a choice,” Derek said, turning back into his normal self.  “We need to keep you safe and the best chance we have for that is to move you out of here to somewhere defensible.”

 

“So you just choose to go all wolfy on him without talking to me first?”  Stiles asked, his voice getting a little more shrill as his concentration slipped.  “What the fuck man, we talk about this kind of stuff.  Why didn’t you let me talk to him and break it in a little easier? Then hey dad, there's werewolves, or look here's one now.  I thought we'd decided that was a bad thing!”

 

“What is going on?”  Stilinski asked, moving in between Derek and Stiles, instinctively protecting his child.  “Stiles, what’s happening?  Why is he saying you’re not safe?  What has he done to you?”

 

“I am safe dad,” Stiles assured him.  “And Derek hasn’t done anything to me…recently…what’s going on has nothing to do with him.  He’s just being a little overprotective.”

 

“Not true,” Derek said right back.

 

“So true,” Stiles said, walking around the Sheriff to poke at the older man’s chest.  “What you just did is considered overprotective and in my book way out of line.  You do not get to decide when and how my family hears about all this…stuff…”

 

“You were going to have to tell him anyway,” Derek said, “Even he was going to start notice something was up, it’s better now that later.”

 

“Stiles,” Stilinski said, grabbing Stiles’ shoulders before either could stop him.  He seemed to notice something was up, like his hands went right through his son’s shirt before hitting bone.  “What is going on?  Please, tell me what’s happened to you?”

 

Stiles jerked back like the touch burned her, Derek wrapped his arm around the younger as she tripped to steady her.  “He deserves to know Stiles.”

 

“Well dad,” Stiles said, “Did he tell you the part where he’s a werewolf and I’m training to be a mage?”  Stilinski nodded.  “Well, I’m still human, but I’ve been practicing magic so I can help out, ever since Scott became a werewolf too.  Oh yeah, and Scott’s a werewolf but Derek isn’t the one who turned him, he’s just been helping Scott adjust cause there's a lot of side effects with lycanthropy.  That's a longer conversation.  As far as what’s happened to me, we don’t really know how or why but…”  Stiles took a breath.  “It’s easier to show you.”  Stiles let the enchantments around him drop and Stilinki backed up until he hit the counter, hands gripping it like he was about to fall down.  “Someone, or something, changed me into a girl.”

 

“Wha…what…when…how…?”  Stilinski gasped, his mouth gaping like a fish.

 

“Ten days ago,” Stiles said, stepping forward, “And we haven’t figured out how, but we’re going to and we’re going to fix it.”

 

“I want to move Stiles back to my pack house so she’s safe,” Derek said, “I can protect her there and we can do research without being disturbed.  There are wards and other things that can be placed there that will make sure no one can get to her.”

 

“You’re….you…” The Sheriff stumbled over his words.  “You look like your mother, right now.”

 

“I’ll go pack your stuff,” Derek said.

 

“No,” The Sheriff said, “Stiles is staying here.  You can move into the guest room if you want but my son stays with me.”

 

“It doesn’t work like that dad,” Stiles said, “Pack enchantments only work on pack ground, and right now that’s Derek’s place.”

 

“Do you…I don’t…how do you want me to respond to this son?”  Stilinski asked.

 

“You have to let me go with Derek dad,” Stiles said, stepping forward and hugging him tightly, “He’ll keep me safe while I figure this out, you can come and visit whenever you want.  But I need to know that you're safe, which means staying here.  Whatever's doing this is attacking me and I can't let them get to you too.”  Stilinski hugged Stiles back so tightly she was lifted off the ground.

 

“Find out who did this,” he said, looking at Derek, “Call me before you go after them, I’ll help you.”

 

“We’ll figure this out,” Derek promised, “I’ll go pack some stuff for Stiles.”  The Sheriff was to busy saying a temporary goodbye to his son to wonder how Derek knew where Stiles’ room was.  Fifteen minutes later Stiles’ jeep was pulling out of the driveway with Derek in the passenger seat.

 

“So, you ran here?”  Stiles asked, fingers drumming on the steering wheel.

 

“Knew you’d want your jeep,” Derek explained, “Didn’t want to drive separately.”

 

“You’re going to want to take me to and from school right?”  Stiles asked, seeing Derek’s nod in reply.  “We’ll say the Jeep’s in the shop and I’m getting rides from friends, Scott can pick me up a few times right?  You ok with that?”

 

“We’ll work it out,” Derek said, ending the conversation.  The rest of the trip was silent as they made their way to the loft and carried up the two bags full of cloths and Stiles’ school supplies.

 

“You have internet now right?”  Stiles asked, claiming the clear side of the desk and plugging in the laptop.

 

“Yeah,” Derek said, “You working on a new idea?”

 

“So far it’s still the same, some type of magic user, but I haven’t been able to identify any new witches or sorcerers,” Stiles replied, “I’m not sure what that means now, it’s kind of a dead end without another clue.  I haven’t found anything in any of my research to suggest a spell or a curse that changes gender.  I've changed locations enough that it's not a talisman, though I guess a few nights here and we'll know for sure, and I haven't found any type of magical creature that causes gender change.  Paralysis, death, and coughing up disgusting goo, yes, and ew, but not what's happened to me.”

 

“Well,” Derek said, “I cleared out the bottom drawer for your stuff.  You know where everything else is.  I’ll take the couch.”

 

“I’ll take the couch,” Stiles replied, “You’re already putting up with me, I can’t take your bed.”

 

“The couch isn’t that comfortable and the second floor is more defensible,” Derek said authoritatively.  “You’re upstairs.”

 

“You know what?”  Stiles said, “We’ll both take the bed.  You’re an adult, I’m pretty much an adult…”

 

“You’re dad will shoot me if he finds out,” Derek continued in the same tone.  “You’re barely seventeen and I’m twenty-three.”

 

“My dad doesn’t have to know,” Stiles replied, “I’m tired, you’re tired.  I’m going to finish my homework, take a shower and go to bed.  You have a big bed so I expect you to be there to, it’s not the first time I will have had to share a bed with another guy.”  Derek raised an eyebrow.  “Scott had to get his house fumigated and my dad was on the couch while Mrs. M took the bed, I wasn’t gong to let Scott take the floor.  So let’s be mature about this and just know that I have to get up early for school.”

 

“Ok,” Derek said, picking up a book and his notebook, “I’m still looking at research then.”  They sat in silence for several minutes, only the noise of flipping pages and Stiles’ keyboard filled the main room.  “I was going to make some tea, do you want some?”

 

“You have tea?”  Stiles asked.

 

“That so hard to believe?”  Derek shrugged, moving to the kitchen to put his kettle on.  “I even have food if you get hungry.”

 

“I figured you ran off brooding and push ups,” Stiles said sarcastically, for some reason Derek thought it was much cuter than when Stiles normally ribbed him.  He paused at the stove, wondering if he always thought their banter was something just theirs.

 

“Not just,” Derek replied.  “I guess you don’t need it since you run off sarcasm.”

 

Stiles set down the book and joined Derek in the kitchen, inspecting the fridge.  “Wow, a guy in his early twenties that owns vegetables.  I’m actually surprised.  Werewolf metabolism I figured you’d be eating all the junk food in sight.”

 

“You’re a teenage guy,” Derek said, “My memory serves me right we could eat tupperware and still digest it?”

 

“I have to watch my girlish figure,” Stiles deadpanned.  The two laughed and Stiles put together a quick plate of food for them to snack on and Derek brought the tea over.  Neither were thinking about how natural it was to fall together like that.  “Anything?”

 

“Nope, you?”  Derek asked, switching out his books.

 

“President Teddy Roosevelt was a badass,” Stiles commented, flipping over to another window.  “I actually have to get this paper done, it’s due tomorrow, only have another page to write.”

 

“You always leave schoolwork till the last minute don’t you?”  Derek asked, smiling a little.

 

“Not until my best friend went all wolfy and I turned into a girl,” Stiles replied, “Still, have to keep up appearances right?  Speaking of which, is there somewhere I can set up the casting circle where I can leave it till we get this sorted out?”

 

“Yeah, we’ll get that taken care of,” Derek said, making one more note on his paper, “Take a look at this?  Could this have done it?”

 

Stiles skimmed over the paper and gave a quirk of her lips, a familiar expression but different with a slimmer jaw, her fingers still flying over the keyboard.  “I don’t know, it looks like it messes with people’s lives, but just changing me into a girl?  Doesn’t seem chaotic enough to match that.  I would have expected a lot more stuff to have happened by now.”

 

“Ok,” Derek said, thumping the book shut.  “It’s late, I’ll go make up the bed, you can have the first shower.”

 

“I’ll be up in a minute,” Stiles replied, “Still need to write my closing argument.”

 

“Nerd,” Derek said, breaking into a wide smile.  Stiles smiled back and waved him away, looking through her last bits of research to wrap everything up and follow Derek after only five minutes.  He had just stripped his old sheets off the bed and was getting the new ones out of a small closet.  She laughed a little at herself, for some reason she had not thought things like closets and spare cloths were something Derek had.  He had always been this weird, inhuman figure to her, now she was seeing his human side much more closely.  “I put some towels in the bathroom.”

 

“Thanks,” Stiles said, unzipping the gym bag for some shorts and a shirt.  She took a quick shower, glad the hair length hadn’t changed to much, she could already see why girls had to take more time on their hair.  She was still towel drying her hair when she walked out and met Derek who was grabbing his own shorts to sleep in.  “Shower’s free.”

 

“I showered before I came to get you,” Derek said, “Pick whichever side of the bed you want, outlets on the left though if you need to charge your phone.”  Stiles pulled the cable out of her backpack and ran it to the bed, setting her phone there with an alarm to wake her up in enough time to get to school.  She was just crawling into bed when Derek came out of the bathroom.

 

“I just realized I don’t have a printer, what are you going to do about you paper?”  He slid into the other side of the bed and turned out the lights.

 

“It’s due after lunch, I can print it out at the library,” Stiles replied, sinking into the pillow as the moonlight filtered through the window.

 

“Ok,” Derek replied, closing his eyes at that, not thinking of any other way to end the conversation.

 

“Hey,” Stiles said after a moment, her voice sounding smaller than it had before.

 

“What’s up?”  Derek asked, turning his head to look at her, her form barely outlined in the moonlight.

 

“What are we going to do if I stay like this?”  Stiles asked.  “We’re going to have to tell Scott and everyone at some point.”

 

“I know,” Derek said, “I think that’s more up to you than it is to me.  Do you want to tell Scott?”

 

“No, he’ll panic,” Stiles replied, turning to her side to look at him.  “How about we give it one more month, if we can’t find anything by then we tell them.”  Derek nodded and Stiles rolled to her back again, both closing their eyes.  If Stiles rolled onto her stomach during the night and it brought her closer to Derek, and he turned on his side so they could tangle together, neither said anything the next morning.  Both of them blamed the warmth coming from the other person and the natural tendency to gravitate towards the source.

 

* * *

 

 

It had been just over two weeks since Stiles had moved in and they still had not found a break in the case.  They were coming close to their deadline of telling Scott’s pack, the only upside so far to the change had been Stiles’ growing ability in magic due to her having to use it more and more often.  Still, the other werewolf knew that something was up, no matter how good Stiles got at lying her heartbeat still gave it away and Scott knew that she and Derek were hiding something.  So far it had been blind luck and the Sheriff running blocker for them the teen had not discovered Stiles was still living with Derek.

 

"We have to tell him soon," Stiles said one night as they got ready for bed, combing out her hair while Derek brushed his teeth.  "He hasn't said anything yet, but he knows I'm lying."

 

"It's still your choice Stiles," Derek said around his toothbrush, muscles sore from his workouts earlier in the day.

 

"I know," Stiles replied, walking past him to get into bed, "I just, I don't want him crowding me or treating me any different than he normally does."

 

"You know him better than I do," Derek said after he rinsed his mouth out, tugging off his shirt and crawling in beside Stiles as he watched her setting her alarm.  "Tomorrow's Saturday, be a rebel and sleep in."  Stiles rolled her eyes and turned off the alarm, rolling onto her side in some vain attempt not to snuggle with Derek.  It did not work in the long run, for some reason during the night they always woke up tangled in each other.

 

Derek was woken by a shrill scream coming from the bathroom, he lunged out of bed with his claws drawn only to find the door locked.  “Stiles?”  He asked, heart racing as he could hear Stiles’ heartbeat thumping in a full panic.

 

“Don’t come in,” she responded.  Still a girl then, nothing had changed.  “I’m fine…just…just go away.”

 

Derek retracted his claws, and tried to calm down, he couldn’t help Stiles if he was panicking too.  Once he took a few deep breaths he noticed something different, a strong coppery smell coming from behind the door.  Derek counted backwards and pursed his lips, he’d guessed right.  “Hey Stiles,” he said quietly, “There’s some stuff under the sink.”

 

“What?”  Stiles sniffled, he could tell there were tears running down her face.

 

“Under the sink,” Derek said, “I wasn’t sure what you’d want or what would fit, or even if you would need them, but I figured better safe than sorry.”

 

He heard more sniffling and rummaging, followed by complete stillness.  Stiles’ heart beat started to even out.  “You bought this?”  Her watery voice asked.

 

“Yeah,” Derek said, “I thought you might need them.  Directions should be self explanatory but do you need some clean clothes?”

 

“Yes please,” a small voice answered, sounding embarrassed.  Derek went back to the dresser and pulled out fresh underwear, a tee shirt, and a pair of his sweatpants for Stiles, knocking gently when he was back at the door.

 

“Here you go,” Derek offered.  All he saw was a slim wrist dart out for the cloths.  A few seconds later the shower was running.  Derek silently opened the door, grabbed the pajamas, and turned to his laundry nook to give Stiles a little privacy.  Derek checked the sheets and saw no blood so he headed off to the laundry machine to pre-treat the clothes.  He gave himself a wry chuckle when he remembered what Laura used to say when she thought he could not hear: women and werewolves, we both have to know how to get blood out of cloth.  Cora had woken up one morning with her first while his parents and Laura were both away, she had not been able to face Derek either and it had taken her a solid two hours to come out of the bathroom.  When everyone had come back at the end of the weekend his parents had been so proud of him for taking care of his baby sister when most brothers would have run screaming from the room.  For some reason periods had never bothered him, they were natural and that had always been enough of an explanation.  He had just finished treating everything for the wash when he heard small footsteps behind him.

 

“You…uh…you didn’t have to do… that,”  Stiles said, hands fisting the bottom hem of her overlarge flannel shirt before flailing awkwardly, her face still red and eyes puffy from crying.

 

“It’s no trouble,” Derek assured her, keeping his thoughts on how adorable Stiles looked to himself.  The wolf in him wanted to go over and hold her close, assure her everything was all right, and give her nose a bite if she said anything otherwise.  “You’ve done it for me when I’ve gotten slashed up.”

 

“That was different, you were wounded,” Stiles said, “If I were a guy…I don’t know if I could have done that for a girl.”

 

“You forget I had two sisters?” Derek asked. “Not my first rodeo.”

 

Stiles looked down at her bare feet.  “Still doesn’t explain why you bought girl stuff, though I’m grateful you had it.”  The wolf in Derek puffed up again at being a good mate and provider, it took most of his self control not to actually puff out his chest in pride.  He also had to remind himself that Stiles was not his mate and in all reality a teenage boy six years his junior.  “Like I said, most guys wouldn’t have actually gone to the store and bought that.”

 

“I was already at the store,” Derek shrugged.  Stiles smiled a little and bit her lip.  “Back to the clinical side, any cramps yet?”

 

“I don’t really know,” Stiles said, “My lower back just feels really tight right now.  I’m glad lacrosse is off season or I probably would have been at a game.”

 

“Bright side,” Derek said, turning and pulling out his bean-bag heating pad to throw in the microwave.  “Right now we’re just gonna curl up and put a heating pad on your back.  If it gets worse I also picked up some pain killers.  We’ll have to wait and see.”  He paused when thin hands wrapped around his chest from behind, a warm body pressed up against him and he could feel Stiles bury her face in his back, unintentionally nuzzling his tattoo.

 

“Thank you Derek,” Stiles said, holding him tightly. “I really, I don’t know how I’d be getting through this without you.”  Derek put his hand over the two smaller ones on his chest, a breath coming up short when he could not remember the last time someone had hugged him like this and a warmth spreading through his chest.  This one had nothing to do with being a good provider, and everything to do with the smaller girl behind him.

 

“Hey,” Derek said, turning as Stiles slid her arms to hold him around the waist, not remembering to let go.  He lopped his own arms around her waist and tucked his chin on top of her head.  “It’s no trouble, it’s my job to take care of you remember?”  Derek leaned back to look at Stiles and she tilted her head up to meet his gaze.  Suddenly Derek realized how close they were standing and he was glad she was not a werewolf, his heartbeat speeding up would have given away the rush of emotions he felt.  Stiles took half a breath and looked like she was about to say something when the microwave beeped and she jumped, eyes disconnecting and darting to the side.

 

“Is it ready?”  She asked, biting her lip and moving out of Derek’s arms.  He nodded and handed the heated bean bag to her.  Stiles took it and hugged it to her chest while she walked to the couch, her arms cold now.  “Want to put a movie on?”

 

“Do you do anything else on Saturday except watch movies?”  Derek asked as Stiles pulled out her laptop.

 

“We need a break from research,” Stiles contested.  “Besides, you’ve missed a few years of popular culture.  I don’t know how since you were living in New York.  Either way, you’ve been so nice to me I feel I have to make it up to you.  Come on.”  Derek joined her on the couch and rested both his arms across the back like he usually did.  What neither realized, was that with the smaller screen they sat closer to Derek and he was just a few inches away.  Stiles feel asleep on the couch to the warmth of Derek at her back and she felt his arm go around her, no doubt just trying to keep her from falling off the couch.  She tried not to think when her internal monologue pronouns had changed to reflect the change in her gender, or when Derek started to feel like safety.

 

* * *

 

 

Stiles sighed as she practically fell into the Camaro and buckled up.  “Everything ok?”  Derek asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.

 

“Yeah,” Stiles said, stretching and letting go of the glamor with another sigh.  “It’s just getting harder to keep this glamor up all day, I think I’ve forgotten what school feels like without a headache.”  Everything about Stiles from her hair to her facial features got softer, she leaned the seat back and closed her eyes against the sunlight pouring through the window.  “I’m starting to get used to being a girl, almost went to the wrong bathroom today while I looked like a guy.”

 

Derek did not reply right away, he was getting used to Stiles being a girl too, but he did not want Stiles to be anyone other than Stiles.  It was really throwing his world view for a loop that he had feelings for someone who would (hopefully) be returning to their male form soon.  He honestly did now know what he was going to do now without Stiles hanging around the loft watching movies or working next to each other.  “Think it’s time to tell Scott?  Get everyone from his pack working on this too?”

 

“Friday,” Stiles said, turning her face to the window as the sun ran through her eyelids.  “Give them the weekend to freak out.”  They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Stiles sat back upright.  “I need to know if something is just me, but does it feel…wrong to tell them.  Like, they shouldn’t know about this?  I mean, I know we need to tell them, it’s just…I can’t put my finger on it.”

 

“I don’t know,” Derek said with a shrug.  “I mean, they’re your friends and it’s your body.  I don’t think I have a right to an opinion on the matter.”

 

“I thought you were my alpha, you get an opinion on everything?”  Stiles asked.

 

“You’re in Scott’s pack right?”  Derek asked, shocked that she thought of him as her alpha.  “I’m surprised he hasn’t figured everything out.  I mean, your scent changed and all, that wasn't covered by the glamor.”

 

“Yeah, I don’t know then,” Stiles answered, turning back towards Derek and watching him drive as they reached the loft again.  Stiles did not want to say anything that would ruin it, but the loft was starting to feel like home.  She was missing her own room less and less, it felt odd to wake up when Derek beat her out of bed.  Derek carried her book bag up the stairs and slid the door open.

 

“I went to the store again today, picked up some chicken,” he said since it had been his turn to cook, “Should be done soon, I put it in before I left.”

 

“Cool,” Stiles said, watching as he hung up his jacket and went over to the counter to pull something out.  A wave of bravery washed over her.  “Hey Derek.”

 

“Yeah,” he asked, turning and saw that Stiles was standing right next to him.

 

“Can I…can I do something?”  She asked, biting her lip.

 

“Yeah, what is it?”  He asked.  Stiles licked her lips subconsciously, but instead of answering, reached out and slid her fingers over the back of his hand.  When they rested on the inside of his wrist she took another half a step closer, Derek had stopped breathing but neither noticed.  Her other hand skimmed up his shirt and came to rest over his heart, feeling it race just a little faster, her own pounding in her chest.  She had just started to lean up to brush her lips against his when Derek jerked back like he had been burned.  “Jesus Stiles!”

 

“Derek,” she started, taking a half a step towards him.

 

“Look, no, we can’t do that ok,” Derek replied, taking another two steps back.  “I know you’re confused right now but this is not the way to deal with it, you need to think clearly for once and not like a hyped up hormonal kid like you always do.”  Stiles look like he had slapped her, she took a few steps back and grabbed her backpack.  “Stiles, wait.”

 

“No,” Stiles replied, her voice shaking a little.  “I’m going home for a few hours, see my dad.  I’ll be back by nightfall.”

 

She was out the door before Derek could say anything else.  “Stupid!”  He yelled at himself, turning back to the kitchen and fuming.  He wanted to punch something, it would have been so easy to let Stiles kiss him, to let someone in, but it was not possible.  Not for him, not again.  He stood there in the kitchen for a long time, breath coming faster and faster as he realized Stiles was not coming back right away.  When had the loft started to seem empty without her?  When had he started to look forward to having another person to eat with?  When had the stupid little things become important to him?  Derek picked up the dinner he had made earlier and tossed it in the trash, turning to go for a run until the pounding blood in his ears drowned out his thoughts.

 

Stiles drove to quickly through the tears, almost crashing twice on the familiar drive back to her house.  It had been so stupid to put herself out there, to hope that Derek might have started to care for her, but he still just saw her as some stupid defenseless kid, that was why he was being nice.  It had nothing to do with her at all.  She ran in the door and her dad was in the kitchen, it was not their weekly dinner so he was surprised to see her.  “Stiles,” he said, smiling till he saw the tears on her face.  “What’s wrong?”

 

“Today sucked,” was all Stiles could say before collapsing into his chest.  Stilinski shoved aside how different it felt to hold Stiles as his daughter than as his son, either way his child was in pain and needed help.

 

“I’m sorry,” he said, holding him close.  “Want to tell me?”

 

“No,” Stiles sobbed, “I don’t even know why I’m crying, fucking girl hormones.”

 

“Your mom used to say crying was puking for the soul,” Stilinski said, “You just have to let it happen.”  Stiles laughed and wiped her face off.  “Come on, I’ll make some soup.”  Stiles felt a little bad she was stiffing Derek with a good dinner, but was not ready to go back to the loft right away.  When she grabbed her stuff to leave, the Sheriff tried to talk her out of it.

 

“I can’t dad,” Stiles said, “Like it or not it’s still the safest for me.”

 

“Ok,” Stilinski said, “It’s just, it’s quiet without you here, and I really really don’t like it.”

 

“I know dad, and I’m sorry, I’ll be home soon ok?”  Stiles said, hugging him tightly.  “Love you.”

 

“Love you too kid,” Stilinski said, clutching her tightly before letting go.

 

Stiles made the drive back to a dark loft, Derek was sitting at the table with his head in his hands and a bottle of whiskey next to him.  Stiles was a little surprised, she had not really seen Derek drink before since they met.  She did not say anything as she walked up the stairs and got ready for bed, she heard Derek walk up when she was brushing her teeth.  When she walked out, she found she still did not want to see him, so she grabbed her pillow and a spare blanket.  “I’m sleeping on the couch tonight.”

 

“Stiles, wait…” Derek started, his hand halfway to reaching her.

 

“Nope,” Stiles said, turning and walking out of the room.  “I don’t care, I don’t want to see you right now.  I’ll scream if I get attacked.”  Derek put his hand down and looked away from the retreating female, shame and fear burning in his gut.  Both laid down a few minutes later, but neither slept; just staring at the ceiling and trying not to think about the other person only one floor away.

 

* * *

 

“So, what’s the big deal?” Scott asked, sitting next to Derek on the couch like he always did.  “You said something was up with Stiles.”  Scott and the rest of his pack had arrived only thirty minutes after Derek texted them saying something was up with Stiles and they needed some help.

 

“Well,” Derek said, “Before anything else, just know Stiles is fine.”  Scott tensed beside him.  “I know this is going to seem strange, but I’m going to have to ask everyone to keep your reactions as understated as possible ok?”

 

“You are aware you’re freaking us out more?”  Lydia asked.

 

“Imagine how I feel,” Stiles said from the stairs, perched on the stairwell railing drinking a coke, delicate feet swinging in much-to-big boots.  Stiles watched as realization dawned on everyone’s faces, thankfully more were shocked than started laughing.

 

“What the hell man?”  Scott asked.

 

“You got me,” Stiles replied, “Woke up a few weeks ago and, you know, girl.  Derek and I figured out a glamor, but we still don’t know what caused me to change.”  Scott looked like he’d swallowed his tongue, the rest of the pack about the same.

 

“Well,” Lydia said, “You’re our primary magic user Stiles.  I don’t know what could have done this to you.  I’ve never read anything that suggests this kind of…whatever did this.”

 

“Well I’m going to talk to each of you about anything that happened recently,” Stiles said, “Step into Derek’s kitchen and we’ll talk.”  It wasn’t until Stiles talked to the third person that Derek realized something strange had happened the day before Stiles changed.

 

“I’ll be right back,” Derek said, jumping up and grabbing his jacket, “Tell Stiles I’ll be back soon, don’t wait up.”  He could not remember half the drive to the coffee shop but he parked his Camaro.  His eyes were already scanning the crowds and trying to pick out details from the girl’s face who he’d saved.  Then he remembered, she’d told the barista her cell phone number for rewards, which meant they had her on file.  His legs had carried him inside before the next thought was in his head.  “Can I get you anything?”  The same barista asked, his mustache still to waxed for Derek’s tastes.

 

Derek thanked whatever power was listening there were only two other patrons drinking coffee and listening to their headphones.  “Yes,” Derek said, “I brought a girl in a few weeks ago, she almost got hit by a car crossing the street.  She dropped something and I was hoping to return it to her but I don’t have her number, but I remembered she gave it for the rewards program.  Think I could get it?”

 

“I can’t give out our customers information sir,” the man said, bristling.  He must have thought Derek was a murderer like everyone else in the town.

 

“Look,” Derek said, “How about you call her from the store line, tell her it’s me and I’d like to talk to her.  She doesn’t want to talk then I walk out and no biggie.  Deal?”

 

The man narrowed his eyes but dialed the number. “Hello, Jinny, this is Kyle from Main Street Coffee,” the man, Kyle, continued.  “Yes, it’s good to hear from you too, the man who came with you the other day was looking for you, Derek Hale.  Would you like to speak to him, he said you dropped something.  Ok, I’ll put him on.”

 

Kyle held out the phone.  “Thanks,” Derek said, trying to keep the desperation and fear out of his voice.  “Hi, it’s Derek Hale we met a little while ago…”

 

“Hi!  I was wondering how you were doing,” Jinny cut in.  “Everything going well?”

 

“In a manner of speaking,” Derek said, “I was hoping we could meet up later and talk, you forgot something and I wanted to return it to you in person.  Can I text you the address?”  He must not have done a good enough job at hiding his feelings because Kyle was suddenly very close to him.

 

“Sure, no problem,” Jinny chirped, “But I’ll find out where you live so no worries.  I have my ways.  See you soon, bye!”

 

“Ok,” Derek said, the line disconnected before he could ask anything else.  He handed the headset back to the barista.  “Thanks again.”  He was back in his Camaro and speeding home, praying to beat Jinny there.

 

Thankfully it was just Stiles when Derek slid open the door, something good smelling coming from his kitchen.  “Hey,” Stiles greeted, “Dinner’s just about ready. Everything ok?  Scott said you ran out of here before he left.  He was a little, well a lot, ticked that I didn’t come to him.  Something about me being in his pack, I should have hold him first and everything.  We talked and I think everything’s good.”  Derek tried to respond but his voice was stolen from him, quite unexpectedly too.  Stiles’ hair was pushed back with a simple headband and she was wearing one of Derek’s old, ruined button downs over her regular tee shirt.  Based on the small amount of splatter on the front it was likely being used for an apron.  More than that was the way the light caught Stiles’ frame as she darted around the kitchen with new grace that hadn’t been in his old gangly limbs.  Derek hated to admit, but Stiles was beautiful and he could get used to having someone else around who cared.  “Hey,” Stiles asked, causing Derek to jump.  “What’s wrong?  Tell me.”

 

“I, uh,” Derek said, licking his lips nervously.  “I may have found out how this happened to you, but I’m not sure so I’ve asked someone who might know more to come over.  She said she’s on her way.”

 

"That's good right?"  Stiles asked, pulling the oven mitts off.

 

"We'll see," Derek shrugged.  They waited for a while, then ate dinner, then waited some more but still Jinny did not appear in the loft.  Finally the two went to bed, even thought Derek spend a lot of the time awake and staring at the ceiling.  Derek heard a small noise in the kitchen, eyes opening and instantly alert, the clock read 12:45.  He heard it again and silently slid out of the bed so he would not wake up Stiles.  When he made it down the stairs he saw a familiar frame inspecting all of his books.

 

“So,” Jinny asked without turning to see him, jumping up to perch on Derek’s desk.  “How has everything been working out with your mate?”

 

“So you did do this to Stiles?”  Derek asked as he approached.  “Can you undo it?”

 

“There’s no take backsies on a wish,” Jinny replied.  “I’m a genie and we have some pretty strict rules.”

 

“But I didn’t wish for this,” Derek said back quietly, not knowing Stiles was already awake.  She felt him get out of bed and followed downstairs a moment later, hiding in the shadows by the kitchen.  “I would never have wished for this, why did this happen?”  Stiles felt her heart sink when she realized that Derek didn’t want to be close to her.  Derek was only being protective because he was a girl right now and Derek saw her as even more helpless.

 

“You wished to meet the person who loved you without an agenda,” Jinny explained, “You said you wanted to meet her, so when I found out that you’d already met that person I just made him a little more agreeable to your standards.”

 

“So you just switched him from a boy to a girl?”  Derek said, feeling sick.  “You took what I said, twisted it, and than imposed it one someone else.  That’s terrible.”

 

“I don’t see what the big deal is…” Jinny started.

 

“Do you think under any circumstances that I would want that?” Derek fumed, causing silent tears to fall down Stiles’ face.  “I mean really, what kind of monster…?  Change her back, see if you can take away her memories of what’s happened, anything!”  Derek’s breath was shaking and he could feel his blood running cold.  Stiles went to move away, tears running down her face, Derek didn’t even want her to keep the memories of growing closer to him.  He must have realized she had fallen in love with him and was clearly disgusted by the idea.  “Please Jinny, I can’t…I can’t have her hate me over this.  Stiles should be just who she is and no one else.  I would never have wanted to change her into anything else and I wouldn’t have ever done anything to her against her will.  That’s…I’m forcing this on her…him…”

 

“But…” Jinny tried to interject.

 

“I can’t loose Stiles,” Derek finally said in his normal voice, gripping Jinny's shoulders and staring at her, willing her to understand.  “If you don’t change her back then she will hate me and I will loose her.  Please, you have to understand it was never my ‘wish’ to hurt anyone.”  Derek was loosing control, he was starting to babble like Stiles did all the time, his breath coming faster and faster and hands shaking uncontrollably now.

 

“You love her,” Jinny said as Derek fell into silence and his arms gave out to hang limply at his side, “I mean really love her, even though there’s no future for it if I change her since you can’t biologically mate with another male.  A bonding bite, sure, but you can't grow your pack without turning humans.  You wanted to meet someone who loves you and would mate with you, and I did that, I don’t understand what’s wrong.  Stiles already loves you back there shouldn’t be a problem.”

 

“Stiles was a man,” Derek said, “No one can change him into a woman without his consent, and yes I know how strange that sounds saying it out loud but that’s exactly what you’ve done.  And even if it means I can’t be with Stiles then that’s fine, I’m not worth that.  You have to change her back, it doesn’t matter how I feel.”

 

“You’ll be happy with her,” Jinny said.

 

“I don’t deserve it,” Derek said bitterly, “Stiles doesn’t deserve to be stuck with me, she deserves better than me.  She deserves to be herself, I don’t want her to by anything else, I can’t ask her to be anything else.  Sh…He deserves to be happy.”

 

Stiles had been frozen around the corner since Derek confessed he could not loose her; throat dry and eyes still a little clouded with tears.  The most heart-breaking thing was Derek’s confession that he didn’t deserve good things.  Caution to the wind she stepped into the kitchen from the main room.  “You deserve good things too Derek,” Stiles said softly, still surprised at how comforting her new voice sounded.  “You’re not a monster and you’re nothing like Kate, so stop thinking that.”

 

Derek’s legs gave out and Stiles ran to him, hands running over his hair and face to make sure he was all right.  “I did this to you,” Derek choked out, “I…I forced this on you Stiles, I’m so sorry.”

 

“You didn’t know,” Stiles said, eyes making their way over to Jinny.  “It’s not like she said hey - three wishes - want to turn your pack mate into a girl?  I can do that.”  Tears started to run down Derek’s face.

 

“I don’t…I don’t deserve you,” he choked out, “Boy or a girl I don’t…You deserve better than me, you deserve someone who would…”

 

“Who would drop everything they were doing to take care of me?”  Stiles asked.  “Who helped me get through this craziness without ever judging me or saying I was crazy.  Who would give up a chance for everything he wanted so that I could be happy?  Tell me why you don't deserve a chance to be happy.”

 

"You deserve someone less broken," Derek sobbed, "Someone who didn't end up killing their whole family and the only other person to love them."  Derek took a deep steadying breath and looked up at the woman kneeling in front of him.  “You deserve someone who would love you just the way you are, not have to change you into a woman to make the relationship work.”

 

“Well,” Stiles said, “That last bit is a fair point, but it brings us right back to the part where you did not ask for this, you just asked to meet a woman who would love you without an agenda.  Looks like Jinny here just changed the man to a woman.  If you get what I mean, you know, that’s all that needed to be changed…”

 

Stiles waited patiently while the emotional part of Derek’s brain caught up with the conversation.  “Wait…that means you…already loved me?”  Derek asked, looking very confused.

 

“Well, kinda,” Stiles admitted, looking back she would be much more mortified at the conversation than she was in the moment.  “I mean, I knew you were straight so I kept everything close to the chest, but you’re really hot so the attraction was there from day one.  Then once I knew you weren’t a psychopath and got to know you well, yeah, fell a little in love, ok a lot in love.  What, you think I let you hide out in my room and patched you up because you exist?  I mean, I’d help someone but I really don’t like blood, and I put up with a lot of gouging every time you did something stupid.  Do I even need to bring up the pool?”

 

“But, I thought you were in love with Lydia?”  Derek asked.

 

“21st century Derek, I can bat for both teams,” Stiles said, a little indignant, “Besides, at the end of the day she doesn’t hold a candle to you.  Squishy feelings warning; your ability to care, your strength, takes me right back to the part of why I fell in love in the first place.  How could I not?  You saved my helpless ass when I thought you were a murderer who attacked my best friend.  How many other people would have left me to die?  Answer - a lot of them - but not you.”

 

“That doesn’t change the fact I can’t do this to you,” Derek said, tears coming back to his eyes, “I can’t just wish it and have you change from a man to a woman, I…I just can’t force that on you.”

 

“What if I was ok with the choice?”  Stiles asked, “I mean, I have no idea how to by a girl and this has been probably one of the more traumatic experiences in my life, but not all of it has been bad.  I could live with this…”

 

“You shouldn’t have to!”  Derek said, “You were you and you were happy being you.  Jinny shouldn’t have changed that regardless of how I feel about you now.”

 

“What if Jinny changed me back?”  Stiles asked, “And I was back to pasty just-17 year old guy Stiles that you had fun punching and dismissing my awesome ideas.  Would you feel like you do now?”

 

Derek slammed his head against the cabinet.  “I don’t know, and it’s not fair to you that I don’t but I don’t.  We’re back to the ‘you deserve someone less broken’ part.”

 

Stiles gave a deep sigh, “Being straight is different than being broken.”

 

“And you were right to freak out when your body changed, you’re telling me that something people struggle for years over you’ve managed to handle in six weeks?  When it wasn’t even your choice?”  Derek practically shouted.

 

“Not entirely, but I’m apparently more resilient than I thought,” Stiles mused, turning to the Jin perched on a counter eating a chocolate bar.  “Hey did you…REALLY!”

 

“This is gold, can’t blame me,” Jinny said, looking from one to the other.  “And no, I didn’t mess with your mind to make you accept the change easier.  All I did was switch the boy parts to girl parts, the rest is you.”

 

“So, we need a way to sort all of this out,” Stiles said, pacing from one end of the kitchen to the other.  “I have a proposal,” Stiles said, standing looking at Jinny, “Today’s Saturday, change me back till the end of the week.  Let’s go on as if everything is normal.  Then you come back on Friday and I’ll tell you my decision, if I go back to the way I was or if we keep the change, either way it will be my decision.  Derek will have no bearing on it and then he can’t say that he forced this on me.  Lastly, if I decide to keep the change, you and I will talk about what else needs to change and if you’re capable of it you’ll do it.  Deal?”

 

“You’d make a very good Jin,” Jinny said, “An even better Fae.  Deal.  When you wake up tomorrow morning you’ll be male again.  See you on Friday.”

 

“Wait,” Stiles said, “That easy, no arguments?  No, can’t unwish a wish?”

 

“You’ve made your case, I’m not unreasonable,” Jinny said, “And I did this to make Derek happy as a repayment for saving my life.  You will make him happy.  Right now he’s not happy.  Something has to change and you’re driving it now.  Just know, once you make your decision on Friday I will not be able to alter it for any reason.  You’ll both be stuck with whatever you decide.”

 

“Stiles, you can’t be serious, just get her to change everything back,” Derek said, standing and walking over to the younger woman.  Jinny waved and disappeared before Derek could argue with her anymore.  “Stiles please, this is a chance for everything to…”

 

“The decision’s out of your hands,” Stiles replied, turning and resting her hands over his heart.  “You need to stop beating yourself up for things that you didn’t do.  Whatever happens in six days, it will be my choice.  Either way, I don’t think we’ll ever be able to go back to the way things were.  Right now, we’re going back to bed, I’m tired.”  She took his hand and led him back upstairs, Derek let her, and if he rolled her into his arms before either were asleep, neither commented on it.  Derek just held Stiles tight and breathed deeply, knowing in the morning her scent would change when she returned to her original body.

 

* * *

  

Stiles felt groggy again when he woke up, the same as he had weeks before when he had discovered his body was female.  He groaned and sat up, Derek was sitting at the window watching him.  “So,” Stiles said, surprised as his own voice.  “Guy again.”

 

“You changed just as you woke up,” Derek explained, looking exhausted, “That magic is weird.”

 

“Yeah,” Stiles agreed, lost for words.  His old body was back, everything the same as it had been weeks ago, but now it seemed to big and really did not feel like him anymore.  When had it become normal to think of himself as female, still a guy in personality and world views, but female?  He had not felt any urges to start blasting girl power anthems, but after what felt like a lifetime as a woman being back in his male body was throwing the world view for yet another loop.  He had a sick feeling that he would need some serious therapy whichever decision he made.

 

“This is usually the part when you talk,” Derek interjected, breaking up Stiles’ train of thought.  “I don’t really have anything here.”  Derek had not been used to Stiles’ endless rambling as a comforting sound.

 

“Well,” Stiles said, standing, “I would say breakfast.  It’s Sunday so I think thinking a full cook out, then I want to look into a few things and figure out why I was changed now that we know the how.  You need a minute?”

 

“Yeah,” Derek said, looking out of the window but his mind was father away.  Stiles pursed his lips and went downstairs to cook breakfast.  Derek had watched Stiles change; one moment the woman he had gotten used to being in his bed, then the next a young man he never thought would be there.  It was a selfish feeling, but he wanted Stiles in his life as a woman, as someone who he’d learn to love again.  Stiles had blasted past all of his possible defenses, set there since Kate’s betrayal and the countless people who had maneuvered to use him since.  Stiles had no agenda, one thing about Jin he’d found was they could not lie or be lied to, something to do with the source of their powers.  If Jin had recognized pure intention, it was there, he wanted that kind of love.  Love he had not known since the death of his family.  He shook his head again, it was useless, so he went down and started to help with breakfast and volunteering for cleanup.

 

“What’s this?”  Derek asked, sitting across the Stiles inside the casting circle that he’d started just after breakfast.

 

“I’m trying a divination ritual,” Stiles said, “Trying to figure out why Jinny picked me as opposed to anyone else on the planet.”  Stiles completed adding ingredients and sighed, settling just across from Derek.  “Ok, soon as it takes effect…”  The smoke rose from the bowl and turned red, one end floating towards Derek and into his chest while the other bound to Stiles.  “Ok, that’s new.”

 

“Is it supposed to feel like it’s tickling my soul, because that’s the only way I can describe it and it’s kind of uncomfortable,” Derek groused.

 

“I have no idea,” Stiles said, “But I feel the same, let me check something.”  He turned and flipped through his notes, over the last two years he’d gotten some fairly comprehensive parallels in mythology to figure out the truth.  “Uh…ok…I wasn’t expecting this.”

 

“Expecting what?”  Derek asked.

 

“This connection, it means we’re soul mates,” Stiles said, reading through his notes and the attached book photo copies.  “Lives that are destined to be connected can be divined by searching for the red string attached from your wrist and going out to the five people destined to shape your life.  The soul mate, however, is shown by a connection from one entire being to another.  There is only one of these connections in a lifetime and should the lives return a second time continues to exist…it means we’re soul mates.”

 

“So…what…?”  Derek said, genuinely confused.  “It means we’re destined to be together?”

 

“Apparently, or we have been in the past, I’m not getting into the reincarnation shit that takes to long,” Stiles said, “I just…I didn’t expect this.”  They looked at the red string connecting the two.

 

“So…now what?” Derek asked.

 

“Close your eyes for a second,” Stiles said, Derek obeyed and suddenly he felt surprisingly soft lips against his own.  Large, strong hands cupped his jaw and neck, holding him to the kiss.  Derek responded, his hands awkwardly drifting up to rest of Stiles’ waist.  It was not an unpleasant feeling, he felt wanted and that almost always felt good, but the shape of his partners jaw was wrong.  He could feel a hint of stubble against his own face, Stiles’ had not shaved this morning.  It did not feel bad, but he imagined kissing Stiles twenty four hours before would have resulted in very different feelings.  “Yeah, thought so.”  Stiles said the words surprising Derek into opening his eyes after the kiss broke.

 

“I’m sorry,” Derek said, his hands lowering to his sides as Stiles took a few steps back.

 

“For what?”  Stiles asked, “You’re not attracted to men, there’s nothing wrong with that, and it’s not something you can learn.”

 

“That doesn’t mean you change everything about yourself,” Derek interjected, standing up so suddenly he almost knocked Stiles over.  “I should ask you to change who you are so I can love you, I should love you either way.  The way I can’t learn to be gay is the same way you can’t learn to be a woman overnight.”

 

“You can love me and not be sexually attracted to me, that’s not the issue at hand,” Stiles replied.  “That’s a thing too.  I just have a few things to think over before I make my final decision.”

 

“I’m your soulmate,” Derek said, “I’m supposed to take care of you, how the hell am I supposed to do that when I can’t even love you?”

 

Stiles stepped back into Derek’s personal space and cupped the older man’s jaw with his hand.  “You can love me, love means a lot of different things, even soulmate doesn’t have a static meaning.  You don’t have to fall in love with me.  It’s just more complicated now and I need a little space to think.  I’m going to go see my dad for a bit and I’ll be by tomorrow after school.  There’s a lot we need to talk though.”  Stiles grabbed his gym bag and went out the door with one last awkward glance behind him.

 

Derek waited until he could no longer hear the jeep before he admitted anything to himself.  “I don’t have to fall in love with you, but I did.”  Everything in the loft reminded him of Stiles and the feeling was crushing him.  He turned and grabbed his go bag, he could not stay in Beacon Hills anymore.

 

* * *

  

“Hey dad,” Stiles said, walking in and closing the door behind him.

 

“Hey Stiles,” the Sheriff said, doing a double take up.  “Uh, is that the magic, or are you?”

 

“Back to normal now,” Stiles said with a giant sigh, dropping his bag by the counter and leaning on it.

 

“You don’t look happy about that,” Skilinski said, eyes narrowing.  He walked over and gave his son a hug, surprised and how hard Stiles hugged him back.  “What’s wrong Stiles?”

 

“I don’t know,” Stiles replied, sighing and pushing back from his dad.  “Everything is so complicated now.  We figured out what happened.”

 

“Ok, and that makes it complicated,” Stilinski said, “You want to talk about it?”

 

“Derek saved the life of a magical creature,” Stiles explained, “In return, they said he’d meet his soulmate, but Derek’s straight so…”

 

“Wait?”  Stilinski asked after a moment.  “So, you and he?”

 

“Soulmates,” Stiles explained.  “And lets make it worse, I have a choice now.  I can stay a man, or keep the change and be a woman for the rest of my life.  If I stay the way I am, I can go back to my life knowing I’ll always be settling in love.  If I become a woman, everything changes but I will have a shot a true happiness.  Not an easy trade off.”

 

“I don’t normally do this,” Stilinski said, pulling two beers out of the fridge, “But I think we need these.”

 

“Thanks dad,” Stiles said, the two sat there for several minutes sipping the beer.

 

“Ok, so, let me get this straight,” Stilinski said, “You and Derek are soulmates.  You didn’t know until someone made you change from a boy to a girl.  Now you’ve fallen in love with Derek a little, and hopefully he feels the same, and you have to choose your gender.”

 

“Derek probably does, it doesn’t matter to me but he’s straight,” Stiles continued, running his hand through his hair, “So, this is on me and his self worth is so low that he doesn’t even want to acknowledge the possibility I’d choose him.  I have until Friday to make my final decision.”

 

“Doesn’t matter to you?”  Stilinski asked.

 

“I’m bisexual dad,” Stiles continued.  “But Derek’s not, so yeah…complicated.”

 

“You don’t give me any time to process large life announcements,” Stilinski said, shaking his head, “Just like your mom.  Well, how is this complicated, you’re a boy.  You can’t just change that.”

 

“Except I can,” Stiles said, “And believe it or not, I feel weird right now, I don’t feel comfortable anymore.  I got used to a female body, I was still me but the shell was different.  I don’t know right now and it’s killing me.  What do I do dad?”

 

“I don’t know,” Stilinski said, “I can’t even wrap my head around this.  You’re asking me to give up my son, everything you’ve ever done will be gone or at the very least different.  What are you going to do?”

 

“I can change everyone’s memories, you won’t remember I was ever a boy,” Stiles said, “You’ll have new memories of me as a girl.  Everything will be the same, just girl Stiles.”

 

“I can’t objectively answer that, that's asking me to give up my son,” Stilinski said honestly.

 

“Yeah," Stiles said, "I know.  Hey - uh - I need some headspace.  Mind if I run upstairs for a bit, we'll talk more over Chinese food?"  Stilinski nodded and Stiles left the kitchen, the beer barely touched.  Upstairs Stiles laid on his bed and stared up at the ceiling, trying not to think of how odd it felt not to be at the loft.  Seven weeks ago his crazy messed up life had some type of order to it: school, homework, disaster of the week, and sleep.  Now, now everything was different and he faced the sole responsibility for whatever happened next.  He sighed and relaxed back into his pillows, contemplating the rest of your life and everything that had been done previously was no small task and he only had a few short days ahead to make up his mind.  Suddenly Stiles’ phone went off, he had a text from an unknown number: Hi Stiles, this is Jinny.  Here’s my number, text me when you have your decision this Friday and I’ll come meet you.

 

Stiles texted back: Thank you Jinny, I’ll let you know when I’ve made up my mind.  Stiles leaned back and looped his arms back behind his head, he still has a lot of thinking to get done.

 

Miles across town Derek locked the loft and ran to his Camaro, heading anywhere but Beacon Hills.  He was four miles out of town before his heart rate started to even out, if he was gone then Stiles would not feel pressured to make a decision.  He could go back to his life the way it was, joking with Scott while playing lacrosse, and spending time with his pack.  Stiles would be happy, that was all Derek could keep thinking to himself, Stiles would be happy.

 

“Stiles won’t really be happy,” Jinny said, suddenly in the passenger seat.

 

“Jesus!”  Derek said, Jinny’s hand shooting over to keep him from jerking the wheel and crashing his car.  “What the hell?”

 

“Your running away won’t help anything,” Jinny said, “It’ll just hurt Stiles for the rest of your lives, he’ll wonder why you left and why you couldn’t love him no matter when gender he chooses.  You’re deluding yourself if you think this is anything except a selfish decision.”

 

“I can’t ask Stiles to change,” Derek fumed.

 

“You’re not asking him to, Stiles is making that decision on his own,” Jinny said, “But if you’re thinking that you aren’t a part of his life then you’ve got another thing coming.  What do you think it’s going to be like making this decision without you?  How’s he going to handle that?”

 

“If I go he doesn’t have to make the choice,” Derek said, “It can go back to the way it was.”

 

“You're not making him choose by staying, you're taking the power of his voice away from him by leaving.  What if he doesn't want that?”  Jinny asked, “What if he wants you just as much as you want her?”

 

“There’s no way Stiles would ever want me, boy or girl,” Derek said.

 

“Good thing you haven’t noticed were you’re driving,” Jinny said, nodding to the house that she had magically directed them to, “Cause I’m about to magic you up there to talk to him if you don’t drive home right now.”

 

“I’ll drive home,” Derek said, pulling away from the house before Stiles could notice the Camaro’s engines.  “Are you gonna babysit me till Friday or do I get some peace and quiet?”

 

“Don’t go running off,” Jinny said, “I’ll have my eye on you.”

 

“You got it,” Derek said, deciding to go upstairs and get himself really, really drunk if running away was off the menu.

 

Stiles came over Monday after school and Derek was still drunk.  “Oh come on man,” Stiles said, looking at the barely conscious Derek on the floor, bottle and a half of empty Jack Daniels next to him.  “Seriously?”  Derek didn’t respond except to groan weakly, Stiles pulled out his phone.  “Hey dad, I’m gonna crash at Derek’s tonight, he’d really messed up.  I know, but I can’t leave him dad, see you tomorrow.  Love you too.”

 

“You should leave me,” Derek slurred, trying to reach for the bottle when Stiles snatched it away.  “Don’t.”

 

“To bad on both counts,” Stiles said, setting the bottle in the sink.  “God, if I didn’t love you I’d think about leaving but tough shit, you’re stuck with me.  Come on.”  Stiles threw Derek’s arm over his shoulder and started half dragging half carrying him to the bathroom.  “One foot in front of the other, good thing I’m a guy again huh?  I’d have had to drag you in a bed sheet or something.”

 

“You make a pretty girl,” Derek slurred, “But, you’re boy.”

 

“Yeah, I’m boy,” Stiles replied, “And you’re boy and that’s part of the problem, and you think it’s solved by getting drunk and not talking to me.  Now, into the shower, and try not to drown while I see if you have any food.”  When Derek just slumped against the wall Stiles sighed.  “Just wait there.”  He went back outside  and found some soup and crackers, setting it on the counter he went up to Derek’s closet and pulled out some shorts and a clean shirt with a second pair of shorts for him.  Derek had not moved when he got back.  “Ok, arms up.  Not how I ever imagined taking your cloths off.  Gouged again and need medical attention - yes.  Wild sex dreams - yes.  Drunk Derek that can’t move - nope.”

 

“I dreamed about you last night,” Derek said, the fact he was talking about it at all showing how out of it he really was, “Dreamed you were here, faceless, shapeless, but it was you, I could tell.  I dreamed you were meeting my parents, my sisters, my family.”

 

“Lay down,” Stiles said, helping Derek take his pants and sox off, boxers on to give him a modicum of privacy.  Chances were he would be mortified when he finally got over his headache, hopefully he would not remember much.  “Arm up, and into the shower.  I would have liked to meet them Derek, I really would have.”

 

“I killed them,” Derek said, “I…they’re all dead because of me.”

 

“Derek,” Stiles said before he turned on the shower.  “Open your eyes and look at me.”  Derek opened bleary eyes and focused a little on Stiles.  “None of that was your fault, it was not your fault you fell in love with someone who used you.  What Kate did was a violation of your mind, your body, your heart, and your soul.  That had nothing to do with you.  Understand me?  You need to move forward from that event, it was not you.  Now I’m really, really sorry about this.”  He jumped back and turned the water on, not waiting for it to warm up.

 

“Ghaaa!”  Derek shouted as the cold water hit his skin, thankfully turning warm again fairly quickly.

 

“There we go buddy,” Stiles said, now in a loose pair or Derek’s old shorts.  He grabbed the shampoo and gently cleaned Derek’s hair, then grabbed the soap and gave his face a quick but gentle once over.  “That’s got to feel better now right?”

 

“I hate you,” Derek groused.

 

“Careful, I might believe you,” Stiles said, helping Derek stand so he could climb out of the shower.  “Come on, fresh clothes and some food.  You’re going to be sick as hell in a few hours.”  Derek was, and Stiles helped him clean up afterwards before putting him to bed.

 

“Stay,” Derek pleaded, his hand reaching out and gripping Stiles’ arm.  Stiles stayed all night and called out of school the next day.  He and Derek talked, a lot about Derek’s family, some about Stiles’ mother, and other times nothing at all.  That Tuesday Stiles went home, with even more to think about then he had on Sunday evening.

 

* * *

 

“Hey Stiles, it’s me,” Derek said, leaving his second voicemail for Stiles since he'd gotten out of school.  “We’re supposed to meet Jinny, just wondering where you are.  Let me know ok?”  Derek ended the call and licked his lips, he had made some chicken for dinner and was waiting.  He knew that Stiles would choose to stay the way he was, but part of him was hoping that they could find a way to be happy even if they could never really be together.

 

Light footsteps came up the stairs and Derek turned to let Jinny in, only to be met by Stiles.  A Stiles with a slimmer jaw, softer eyes, and cloths that were decidedly female.  “Stiles?  What?”

 

“I made my decision Derek,” Stiles said, stepping closer to him.  “I had Jinny meet me at my house before I came over here.  She’s going to meet us again later to go over the details but, this is final.”

 

“Stiles, you can't…” Derek started, he was cut off by Stiles stepping close and grabbing his jaw with both hands to close it and press a demanding kiss on his lips.

 

“Derek, this is my choice,” She said, “Don’t you dare tell me that I couldn’t have made it because I did.  I thought about the implications, the changes I’ll have to make, and everything I’ll never get a chance to do.  I weighed that against everything I will be able to do, including be with you, and that is the choice that won out.  You might not think you’re worth it, but I’m going to spend the next few decades of our lives convincing you that you are.  So deal with it.  Now I’m starving, what’s for dinner?”

 

Derek swept Stiles to him in a crushing hug, burying his face in her neck.  “Thank you Stiles.”  He pulled back and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, hands roaming from her back to her hips to hold her close.  Stiles returned the kiss and stayed just as close to Derek as she could.  He brought her inside the loft and they ate dinner together, laughing and enjoying the night, just as they finished Jinny appeared in the kitchen.

 

“How’d he take it?”  She asked.

 

“Tried to tell me I couldn’t do it,” Stiles replied.  “You ready to sit down?”

 

“Yeah,” Jinny said, sitting across the table from the two.

 

“Ok, first off, no one except Derek and I ever remember me as a guy,” Stiles said, turning to Derek, “Unless you want to always think of me that way.”

 

“No,” Derek said, “I want to remember, everything, just the way it happened.”

 

“Ok, everyone I’ve ever met remembers me as a girl,” Stiles said, “We also know about the memories but we have our true ones as well, is that doable?”

 

“Yes,” Jinny said, “Just know it’ll be confusing for the first few weeks.”

 

“Ok,” Stiles said, “Nothing about my schoolwork changes, other than that I need a sport.  I can’t play lacrosse as a girl like I can as a boy.”

 

“Girls play lacrosse,” Derek said, knowing how much the sport meant to Stiles.

 

“Yeah, but I can’t hit people,” Stiles replied, “I liked the action.  What other sport can I do that is easy to have in a high school that allows that?”

 

“What about hockey?”  Jinny asked, “Ice Hockey, not Field Hockey.”

 

“Ice Hockey, huh,” Stiles mused, “Derek, how you do feel about going to hockey games?”

 

“I can like hockey,” Derek said.

 

“Ok, so we’ll need a Beacon County Hockey team,” Stiles said, “Oooo, let’s call it The Wolves.  The Beacon County Wolves, I like that.”

 

“That’s a little on the nose isn’t it?”  Derek asked.

 

“That's happening,” Jinny said, “Ok, so everyone remembers you as a girl, grades and everything stay the same, and we’re switching lacrosse for hockey.  Anything else?”

 

“Don’t change the rest of the team,” Stiles said, “Lacrosse means a lot to Scott, I don’t want to make that decision for him.  Just change me, and I’m sure there’s a few other people who like hockey in Beacon Hills that you could get a team going.  Derek, do you want them to know about us?”

 

"That's new, I think we can handle breaking the news to them," Derek said, "If you're dad doesn't shoot me.  Guess that's everything."

 

“That's doable,” Jinny mused, flipping through her book.  “Last chance, there's no going back.  Scott will never have looked at you as a boy.”

 

“I know,” Stiles said, “Let’s do this.”  Jinny reached over and wrote several lines into the book with golden ink, then raised the book and blew them into the air.

 

“There we go, when you both wake up tomorrow everyone’s memories will be different,” Jinny said, “You two are the only ones that remember Stiles was ever a boy.  Good luck to you both.”  With that, Jinny disappeared from the table.

 

"I wonder if all jin are that weird?"  Stiles mused. 

 

“You staying tonight?”  Derek asked after the two stared at Jinny’s empty seat.

 

“I can’t,” Stiles said, “Dad said that there was no way he was letting me spend the night for you to get his hands on his underage daughter, he’s taking it a really hard.  He was really quiet when I came down the stairs and I was a girl.”

 

“Good night then,” Derek said, smiling a genuine smile for the first time in a long time.  “I just realized, I get to do this now.”  He pulled Stiles gently towards him and cupped her jaw with his hand for a goodnight kiss.

 

“You always get to do that,” Stiles said, wrapped her arms around his neck.  “You ready for this?”

 

“Yeah,” Derek said, pressing his forehead to hers, “I think I am.”


	2. Where's My Jacket?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek is looking for his leather jacket

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place several years after The Wish - something cute I thought up.

“Stiles,” Derek called, searching the closet for the fifth time, “Stiles, I can’t find my leather jacket, I’m going to be late to the meeting with Scott.”  They agreed to weekly meetings to make sure nothing was going on with the other’s pack or to see if the needed help with the monster of the week.

 

“Scott can wait, come back to bed,” Stiles called, her voice lilting in a way that made him want to listen.  He might have been the alpha wolf, but Stiles looked damn good wearing the pants when she wanted to.  “I’ll get him to forgive you.”

 

“Do you know where my jacket is?”  Derek called, annoyed his favorite jacket always seemed to go missing just when he needed it.  He pulled his boots on and went to check the bedroom to see if he’d left it on the corner chair.  “Seriously, if I’m late to the…”

 

As it turned out, Stiles did know where his jacket was, she was wearing it.  In fact, it went very well with her red lingerie set and garter belt... with six inch heels.  Stiles almost never wore heels, without the practice most girls had she’d found it to annoying to learn.  Derek didn’t really care what Stiles wore on her feet, but those heels with everything else had him forgetting his own name, more or less what his meeting was supposed to be about.

 

“I said, come back to bed,” Stiles purred, an impish smirk on her face.  Derek didn’t make it to the bed, neither did Stiles, and he didn’t make it to the meeting; the coat stayed on though.  Stiles made it up to Scott in the end by promising his could be godfather to the newest Hale pup once he or she decided to make an appearance.


	3. Pixar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles makes Derek watch the Pixar movies he missed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during Stiles' senior year.
> 
> I've been writing some pretty deep feels for this one and to continue the series, but it's not ready yet so here's some shameless cotton candy rot-your-teeth fluff!

* * *

 

“Stiles, please don’t make me, I really don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything.”

“That’s because you don’t know any better,” Stiles said, pulling Derek onto the couch in her living room with a bowl of popcorn.  “Come on, you’ll love them and it’s a free two hours of snuggle time a week that you don’t need an excuse for.”

 

* * *

 

Toy Story 3

 

* * *

 

“No!”  Derek said, jumping up and pacing around the room.

 

“Derek, hit play,” Stiles said.

 

“Not until you tell me they make it out ok,” Derek protested loudly, gesturing at the TV with the remote.  “This is not ok, how is this a kids movie!”

 

“It’s a kids movie, of course they make it out ok,” Stiles argued back.

 

“No they don’t - I’ve seen Bambi - they don’t always make it out,” Derek said, “Don’t lie to me Stiles, Buzz can’t die!”

 

* * *

 

Up

 

* * *

 

“We’re turning this off,” Derek said.

 

“It’s been seven minutes,” Stiles said, turning and noticing Derek’s eye were a little glassy.

 

“And you made me watch that!”  Derek shouted.  “That’s the worst thing ever.”

 

“No it’s not,” Stiles protested, “You need to watch the whole movie.”

 

“No, I don’t,” Derek huffed, sitting on the couch with his arms crossed,  “He already lost her, there is no way this movie recovers from _that_.”

 

“Derek,” Stiles said, turning over and stretching her body out against his.  “It is a really good movie.”

 

“It’s depressing,” Derek confirmed, slouching down on the couch and pulling Stiles on top of him.  "I'm not watching it."

 

* * *

 

Brave

 

* * *

  

“We’re making our daughter watch this one day,” Derek said, “Merida’s a badass.”

 

“Yes she is!”  Stiles said, pumping her fist since she had not seen the film either.  “Damn, this is the first thing making me shout Girl Power!  I want our kid to have a sword, she totally has to learn to fight with a sword.”

 

“Ok,” Derek said, “We’ll teach her how to fight with a sword.  You know neither of us know how to fight with a sword.”

 

“You should learn how to fight with a sword,” Stiles said, smiling as she leaned him back against the couch.  “You, could really pull off the whole rogue knight thing.”

 

“Oh yeah?”  Derek asked playfully, wrapping his arms around Stiles.

 

“Yeah,” Stiles agreed, nuzzling Derek’s neck with a chuckle.

 

* * *

  

Wall-E

 

* * *

  

“She saves him!”  Derek cheered as Wall-E booted back up.  Stiles laughed and curled closer to Derek, the popcorn bowl sitting forgotten on the table.  “Why does Pixar keep toying with my emotions like this?”

 

“I think they’re demons that feed off strong emotions,” Stiles mused, “So they make us feel this way and they keep surviving.”

 

“That would not surprise me,” Derek said, pulling Stiles closer into his side.  “This was a cute one and I kind of want that little robot now.”

 

“We all want that little robot,” Stiles said, extending her arms with flat hands, “Ta-daaa, so adorable.”

 

* * *

 

Inside Out

 

* * *

 

 Stiles was curled around Derek as they lounged on the couch, legs stretched out as he relaxed into her shoulder.  Riley was just  getting on the bus as her out of control emotions were trying to set everything right again and Joy was realizing that they needed Sadness to get Riley back to normal.  Stiles noticed a hitch in Derek’s breathing and looked down, his eyes were wet and a few tears were running down his face.  Stiles slipped down a little so they were closer and held him tight.  “It’s ok to cry hun,” she said quietly, “I know you miss them.”

 

“I threw a tantrum when after Cora was born,” Derek confessed, “I didn’t understand, I was really little, so I ran off and hid in the woods.  Laura was the one who brought be back, told me I had to take care of her, and that she was my best friend in the whole world the same as I was hers.”  He sniffled some more and Stiles turned away from the screen to hug him close.

 

“I love you Derek, I’m here,” she said quietly, it was all she could offer him.  Derek sniffled his way through the reunion, smiling a little when they got the final scene and watching the control board upgrade.

 

“Why do they do this to me,” Derek laughed as they watched the emotions in Jordan’s head run around in terror as the ‘girl’ klaxon sounded.  “I’m sad, I’m laughing.  I think you're right, I think they get off on this.”

 

“That part is totally true though,” Stiles said, “When you’re twelve and a girl talks to you.”

 

“We don’t talk about those awkward years,” Derek said as the end credits rolled.  “Oh geeze, this is hilarious.”

 

“Wait for it,” Stiles said as they zoomed into the cat’s head only to find it empty.  Derek howled with laughter.

 

“That’s so true,” he gasped as Stiles laughed with him.  "Oh my god that's hilarious."

 

* * *

 

 

The End (for now)

 

 


	4. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sheriff stops by to see his grandchildren and have dinner with his daughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place 6-10 years after Stiles and Derek get married.

* * *

 

Sheriff Stilinski parked his car next to the minivan in the drive way, bag in hand as he opened the door.  “Tata!”  Three small voices shouted, feet running and three small bodies tackling his knees.

 

“You three let your grandfather get his coat off,” Stiles said, Laura in her arms and Alan in his bouncer at the kitchen table.

 

“Hey kiddos,” Stilinski, known as Grampa or Tata more than Sheriff these days, greeting, scooping Shiloh up and tickling the boys stomach.  “You three being good around your new siblings?”

 

“I got to hold them!”  Eleanor said excitedly.  “All by myself.”

 

“That’s great!”  Stilinski replied as William clung onto his leg.  “Hey there Mom, how are you doing?”

 

“Wondering how you and mom didn’t snatch me bald-headed with one me,” Stiles joked, reaching over and moving Alan’s bouncer so he was gently moving.  She adjusted the sling she always seemed to be wearing and secured Laura to her chest.  “Tea or coffee?”

 

“I think I’ll need some coffee for this afternoon,” Stilinski said, looking at the three adorable grandchildren sure to run him ragged.  He watched as Stiles made the coffee and saw the slump of her shoulders, the bags under her eyes.  “Hey, you sure you’re ok?  You're not...no signs of postpartum...?”

 

“Just tired dad,” Stiles promised as the three kids went back to the other side of the counter for their toys.  “Three kids 5 and under  is a little tough with two new ones but you know I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

 

Alan started to fuss and whine in his sleep so Stilinski reached over and picked the youngest Hale up to cradle him against his chest.  Alan snuffled and moved towards the familiar scent before settling back into sleep.  “Still not used to the whole scenting thing.  I guess you were a clingy baby though, shouldn’t surprise me.”

 

“Alan’s a little more grounded that Laura, I think he’s going to give us grey hair once he’s a teenager,” Stiles smiled, grabbing a cup and brewing her own tea.  “My bet he’s the one sneaking out of the house to go meet girls and do all sorts of things.”

 

“Get them cell phones, then you can track them with GPS,” Stilinski said, kissing Alan’s head.  “When’s the next time these two eat?”

 

“They should be up in about thirty minutes for a change and some food then they usually sleep again,” Stiles said, pouring the coffee for her father.  “You ready for the other three monsters?”

 

“Oh yeah,” Stilinski said, pulling our a board game, “I got a surprise when you three are ready.”  They perked up at the prospect of time with their grandfather, but stayed quiet for the newborns.  “You three have been so good with the two little ones that you deserve a treat.”

 

“You didn’t have to,” Stiles smiled, sitting down and shifting Laura in her sling.

 

“I want to,” Stilinski replied, “I only get to spoil them once, I need to do a good job with that.”

 

“Thank you grandpa,” William said, hugging Stilinski’s knee.

 

“You’re very welcome buddy,” he said, Laura smiled up at him too and pulled Shiloh into a friendly cuddling competition on the living room floor.  “Tell you what, you look like you could use a nap the next time these two go down.  I can manage the others.  How does that sound?”

 

“I wanted to visit with you,” Stiles said, “See how everything with you and Melissa is going.  She working the day shift?”

 

“Yeah, she has to pull a double because someone’s sick,” Stilinski replied, “And we can visit over dinner when you can talk in complete sentences.  I don’t know how you’re managing feeding twins.”

 

“How do you think I got my body back this fast?”  Stiles asked, indicating her slimmed down waist from it’s previous twin-stuffed form.  “Gotta love the calorie burn right?”  Laura chose that moment to wake up, her hiccuping cries indicating she was hungry rather than lonely, Alan was right behind his big sister wanting food then Stilinski ushered Stiles back into the other room with the twins in their bassinets at the family room so he could keep an eye on them.

 

“So,” Stilinski said, looking at the three adorable faces in front of him.  “Who’s ready to learn how to play Ducks In A Row?”  They bounced excitedly into the other room and were fascinated by the new game, Stilinski was shocked at how smart the three youngsters seemed to be at 4 and 5.

 

Halfway through the third game Ellie raised her head and smiled.  “Dad’s home!”  Stilinski was also surprised at how in tune the three children were with the world around him as they ran to the front door.  “Daddy!”  Ellie cried as Shiloh jumped up into his fathers arms.

 

Derek set his bag down and caught his son in his arms.  “Ack!  Monster attack!”  The three children laughed as Derek stomped around, scooping up Ellie and then trying to catch William without letting the other two go.

 

“Grampa,” William said, running into the other room and hiding behind him.

 

“Don’t know why you’re hiding behind me kid,” Stilinski smiled, picking him up and making growly noises.  William giggled with the other two and then ran over to jump on his dad.

 

“No!  There’s to many of them, grandpa help!”  Derek called lightly, letting his children tackle him to the ground and nuzzle him.

 

“You’re not getting any help either,” Stilinski smirked.  The once brooding and grumpy as hell Derek Hale now a silly parent willing to play tea party with his daughter.

 

“Ah!”  Derek growled, sitting up and lifting William over his head.  “Where you good for your mother today?”

 

“Yup,” all three kids chorused.

 

“Where is mommy?”  Derek asked.

 

“She’s taking a nap,” Shiloh said, “Grampa said she was tired.”  Derek laughed and set William down so he could stand up.

 

“Ok, sounds like I’m on dinner duty,” Derek said, “How about some chicken with mac n cheese?”

 

“Mac and Cheese!”  Ellie voted as the dish was her favorite, William and Shiloh quickly agreeing.

 

“That’s settled then,” Derek said, walking into the kitchen so he could wash his hands.  “You staying for dinner dad?”

 

“Yeah, I don’t have any plans,” the older man agreed, “Need some help?”

 

“I never say no to help,” Derek replied, “Kids, who’s turn is it to pick out a movie?”

 

“Ellie always picks Beauty and the Beast,” William protested, “Let Shiloh pick, he always picks something different.”

 

“He always picks movies with dumb girls who need someone to save them,” Ellie protested, “Let’s watch The Rescuers, the one with the bird.”

 

“I like that one,” Shiloh agreed.  Stilinski helped the three get the movie on and the three settled before he returned to help cook the food for dinner.

 

“You’ve done good with them,” he said, proud of his son and law.

 

“That’s mostly Stiles,” Derek smiled back, it was then he saw how tired Derek also looked.  It couldn’t be easy working all day and then coming home to a gaggle of kids who missed their dad and a ragged wife.  “I don’t know how she does it.”  Laura and Alan started to fuss in their cribs almost exactly the same moment, ready for their next feeding since the last one just over two hours previously.  “Ah man, you want the food or the twins?”

 

“I’ll get them.”  Stilinski said.  Derek nodded and continued on the work for dinner.  “Ok you guys, we’re going, moving slow so I don’t drop you and your dad doesn’t kill me.”  He looked around and saw Stiles wasn’t waking up so he took them in the other room to change before the feeding.  When he got back to the kitchen Derek had two bottles heating on the stove.

 

“I tried to wake Stiles’ but she’s out,” he said, “I want to let her sleep a bit, can you manage the bottles?”

 

“I got them, hasn’t been that long.”  Stilinski saw the topic he wanted to discuss with Derek approaching but moved forward cautiously as he fed Alan in his arm and held Laura’s bottle while she was in the bouncer.  Both were sucking away happily before he spoke again.  “Big families can be good, kids learn to share early on and they already have a built in group of friends.  It’s especially good for your kids since they’ll be growing fur and fangs in ten years or so right?”

 

“We won’t know if they’re wolves or not for a few more years,” Derek said, “They’ll start to feel the moon affect them and we’ll know then.”

 

“You thinking about having any more after these two are up and walking?”  Stilinski asked, he looked up when he heard the movement in the kitchen stopped for a few moments and then continued.

 

“It was an accident,” Derek said, his head angled away and shoulders hunched as he prepped the chicken, an odd look on his face.  Ten years had taught the Sheriff a few things about reading Derek Hale, he had originally thought the posture was defensive, now he knew it was what Derek did when he was blaming himself for something.  “This last time, Stiles getting pregnant…we were going to wait till they were in school full time before trying again.  Laura and Alan…we both wanted some time to just breath a little and enjoy the first three growing up.  I mean, I love them to death, I just…I wish there was a little more time in the day.”

 

“I didn’t know,” Stilinski said, sympathy in the pit of his stomach and shame at thinking Derek had planned all four pregnancies.

 

“It’s just been one right after the other,” Derek said, “William and Ellie are only five and they have three younger siblings.  I want them to know they’re special even with all the attention everyone else needs and I want Stiles to know she’s more than just a mother right now.  She’s my wife too and we haven’t had any us time between the company starting and the kids.”

 

“The good news is that since you’re thinking about it you’re doing it right,” Stilinski said, lifting Alan to his shoulder for a burp.  “You got any plans to make her remember that?”

 

“I was going to suggest a vacation,” Derek said, “Just the two of us, then she was pregnant again.  Set the plans back since we need to wait till they’re weaned.  Now instead of trying to find someone to watch three kids it’s five and that’s a lot of work even if it’s just three or four days.  That’s even saying she’ll want to leave them so soon.”

 

“You tell her she’s getting uninterrupted sleep for a weekend she might be more on board than you think,” Stilinski said, “Besides, give us some time, I think in a few months Melissa and I could handle them.  Ellie and William are already good and helping out and I don’t know how but you’ve managed three of the best behaved children I’ve ever seen.  How you managed that with Stiles’ genes I don’t know.”

 

“You are aware you’re just making me fear their teenage years even more when those kick in,” Derek smirked, lifting Laura out of the bouncer and burping her against his shoulder.  He picked up the sling from the back of Stiles’ chair and lifted it over his head, securing Laura to his chest and he moved around grabbing plates and utensils for the table.

 

“Never thought I’d see you wearing a baby sling,” Stilinski mused.

 

“Need my hands,” Derek shrugged, setting around the plates.  He was going to say something else when Stiles came jogging into the room.

 

“Derek, you’re home, I overslept,” she said quickly, “They ready to eat?”

 

“We got them,” Stilinski said, “Burped and everything, grandpa’s still got some skills.”  He smiled and cooed down at Alan.  "Isn't that right?  Grandpa's still got skills."

 

Stiles looked like someone had kicked a puppy right in front of her and tears welled in her eyes.  “I missed a feeding?  Why, why didn’t you wake me?”

 

“I tried baby,” Derek said, easing Laura back into the bouncer so he could approach Stiles.  “You were really out of it, I wanted you to get some extra…”

 

“And you’ve made dinner,” she said, her voice watery, “God, I’m useless right now…”

 

“Hey,” Derek said, running his hands up and down her arms, “Don’t cry, it’s ok, I know how to cook too.”

 

“But you worked all day,” Stiles said back, not taking note of Derek’s confused face.

 

“If you call raising five kids not work I’m taking you to Melissa for an MRI,” her father said, standing.  “Derek’s here to help you the same as you help him…”

 

Stiles burst into tears as that and Derek looked even more confused.  “I can’t do anything right, I can’t even ‘mom’ right,” she said quietly.

 

Three small sets of pounding feet came from the other room and launched themselves at their mother.  “No crying mama!”  Ellie said.

 

“Mama!”  William said, climbing up her hip as she lowered down to her knees so he could nuzzle her neck.

 

“What’s wrong mama?”  Shiloh asked.  Derek smiled and wrapped his arms around all four.

 

“Nothing’s wrong,” Stiles said, sniffing a little.  “Your mom is just being a little stupid right now.”

 

“You’re not stupid,” Shiloh said, looking up at his mother from hugging her hip, eye accusing as if he did not like it when even Stiles’ accused herself of anything less than utter perfection.  “It’s mean to say stupid.”

 

“My angels,” Stiles said, looking happier.  “Now, since Dad and Tata were nice enough to make us dinner, how about you all get washed up and ready to eat?”

 

“Sure,” William said, taking his siblings hands, “Come on.”

 

“See,” Derek said, hugging Stiles without kids in the way, “Great mom, just needed a few extra minutes of rest.”

 

“You know the same thing happened when you were born,” Stilinski said, taking a sip of coffee.  Stiles and Derek both turned and looked at him, Stiles more shocked than Derek as Stilinski laid Alan down in his bassinet and moved Laura to hers so she was off the table.  “You were about four months old and weren’t sleeping through the night because you were teething.  I was on shift work and your mom was at home so she was pulling all the feedings just like you are now.  I got in the habit of calling from the car to talk to her and just checking in with the newborn and all.  One day we’re about thirty seconds into the conversation and I realize she doesn’t even know what day it is.  You’d been fussy for the past few days and I didn’t realize she hadn’t been sleeping that much.  I kept her on the phone but I rushed home and put her to bed for eight hours, took care of you all by myself.  I’m shocked it took this long for everything to catch up to you.”

 

“I didn’t know that,” Stiles said.

 

“Doesn’t matter how good a mom you are, sometimes you just need some sleep,” Stilinski assured her.  “Well, Derek, I’m going to go check the chicken, you tell her your vacation idea.”

 

“Huh?”  Stiles asked.

 

“I was thinking a weekend away, just us,” Derek said, “Get a hotel somewhere, a chance to be boyfriend and girlfriend again.  Let the kids spend some time with grandma and grandpa?”

 

“I’m not ready now, but maybe in six months,” Stiles said, wrapping her arms around him and letting him just hug her back.  “I like the idea of the kids getting time with Dad and Melissa.”  She turned in his arms and let her fingers trail over Laura’s and Alan’s stomach.  “They are so beautiful.”

 

“Yeah,” Derek let his own hand wander to Laura’s stomach and rested on it.  She flailed under the weight and then her little hand settled on his.  “Have I told you today exactly how much I love you?”

 

“Nope,” Stiles said, tilting her head to bear her throat and bond bite to him.  “Have I told you how much I love you yet?”  Derek hummed a pressed a kiss to her neck.

 

“Dinner’s ready everyone,” Stilinski called.

 

“I love you,” Derek said quietly.

 

“I love you back,” Stiles whispered.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone liked it, please let me know what you thought.


	5. Tell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles and Derek tell their friends/Family about their relationship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happens a week after Wish Granted, I changed the original draft shortly after publishing it so people did not know about Stiles' and Derek's relationship. It was something I was originally thinking about then thought it would have been to much to alter their memories to include a relationship.

* * *

Scott/Melissa:

 

"Uh Stiles," Scott asked, wrinkling his nose.  "Why do you smell weird?"

 

"What do you mean smell weird?"  Stiles asked, looking at her shirt.  She hoped she didn't smell like sweat, her palms had been sweaty since she left the loft half an hour ago.  Derek supported her decision to tell Scott about their relationship alone, it wasn't going to be easy telling her best friend she was in love with a rival alpha werewolf.  They did not need Derek with werewolf hormones challenging Scott's wolf.

 

"Don't freak out at this," Scott said, leaning over and sniffing Stiles' shoulder deeply.  "Why do you smell like Derek?"

 

Stiles almost rolled her eyes, almost, he'd been very clingy before she left the loft.  Probably so Scott could smell him on her, stupid werewolves.  "Probably because I just came from his loft."

 

"Something up?"  Scott asked, turning and flopping on the couch, a video game controller in the other hand.

 

"No, just dinner," Stiles replied as Scott powered up the console and they logged in.

 

"You had dinner with Derek?"  Scott asked.  "Why?"

 

"It's date night," Stiles replied blandly.  Scott paused the game and turned to her, a confused look on his face.  "He and I are dating, weekends have usually been spent fighting monsters so we have dinner on Tuesdays."

 

"Wait...you're dating Derek... Hale?"  Scott sputtered, "But...he's old!"

 

"He's only a few years older than us," Stiles replied, setting the controller aside.  "What objection, besides the age gap, could you have against Derek!"

 

"He's killed people, he killed his uncle!"  Scott retorted.  "Knowing I could have stopped being a werewolf.  You can't tell me that's who you're letting fuck you."

 

"Peter killed his big sister and then tried to kill him too, and I'm not fucking him," Stiles said.  "We don't know if that would have cured you, it probably wouldn't have, and more importantly he didn't want you to have to live with the burden of killing someone.  You know what happened to the Hale's how can you possibly think that was easy for him!"

 

"I'm your alpha," Scott shouted after a pause, apparently out of reasons.

 

"That doesn't mean you make my decisions," Stiles shouted back, "I was supportive of you and Allison even after she broke your heart the first time and when we found out she was a hunter.  Her people kill people like you."

 

"Don't bring Allison into this," Scott growled.

 

"Scott, I'm in love with him," Stiles said, her shoulders slumping and breath coming in sighs as the door opened.  "There's nothing you can say that will change that."

 

"Mom!"  Scott called as Melissa walked into the kitchen.  "Back me up, Stiles can't date Derek Hale!"

 

"What's going on?" Melissa asked.

 

"Stiles, this little baby Stiles, is dating a 23, almost 24 year old man," Scott shouted, "That's illegal isn't it?"

 

"Scott, Stiles is above the age of consent so it isn't illegal," Melissa said, sorting the groceries, "As for any other opinion I'm going to have that as a private conversation with Stiles. Can you get the rest of the groceries?"  Scott huffed out to the car and Stiles sat down at the island next to her mother figure.  Melissa reached out and put an arm around her.  "Want to tell me what's going on?  I heard some shouting."

 

"Derek and I are dating," Stiles explained, "We've liked each other for a while but weren't saying anything because I was underage.  Long story short, something happened and we told each other." Stiles sighed and leaned into Melissa's shoulder.  "We're not sleeping together, I know Scott thinks that's what's going on but it isn't, we're taking it slow."

 

"That's responsible," Melissa replied, "I think Scott it worried someone is going to hurt his sister.  I don't know Derek that well, he does have a rep around here that isn't the best."

 

"I love him Ms. McCall," Stiles confessed, "I love him because even after all of that he's still a kind person, even if he is a little withdrawn and socially awkward."

 

"You're almost an adult Stiles," Melissa said, sighing and pulling out a bag of cookies.  "You are going to face adult consequences for adult decisions.  You are young no matter what you've been though..."

 

"He's my soulmate Melissa," Stiles interjected.  "As in, confirmed, only one for me soulmate, and I'm his.  We didn't plan this we got thrown into it.  He and I talked about it and we decided we were better together than apart."

 

"Like, a magic thing, with Scott's wolf?"  Melissa asked, Stiles nodded suddenly looking very small.  Of everyone she knew it was important that her father, Melissa, and Scott all approved of the relationship.  Melissa quietly walked around the island and wrapped Stiles' into a hug, resting her chin on the younger woman's head.  "Stiles, even if it weren't, you're a smart girl.  You wouldn't give you heart to someone lightly."

 

"Thank you," Stiles whispered, cuddling into the hug and enjoying the touch.

 

"That being said," Melissa continued as Scott walked back in with the rest of the groceries, "He hurts you and I'm letting Scott at him."

 

"Yes," Scott said, "Do I get to beat him up?"

 

"Only if he hurts Stiles," Melissa said, "Otherwise, I expect you to be happy for her and support her."

 

"Come on!"  Scott replied.

 

"Scott," Melissa said, her mom voice on.

 

"Yes ma'am, let Stiles date a..." Scott started.

 

"Can I curse him?"  Stiles asked.

 

"No magic in my kitchen," Melissa replied.  Stiles laughed and she and Scott continued to talk about the relationship over dinner.  He wasn't really happy about his best friend dating a rival who had, in his eyes, questionable morals, but he wasn't angry about it either.  Stiles was willing to take the win.

 

* * *

  

Lydia/Kira/Malia:

  

"Emergency girls night?"  Lydia asked, pulling out the nail polish and other primping supplied Stiles only used when Lydia forced her to.  "What's going on?"

 

"Scott and I had a fight," Stiles started with a sigh.

 

"A big one?"  Lydia asked, "You two never fight, must be something serious."

 

"I started dating Derek," Stiles replied, looking between the three girls to judge their reactions.

 

"Scott told me," Kira said, breaking the silence.  "I told him to get over it and stop his alpha posturing.  He doesn't get to live your life."

 

"I think it's your call sweetheart," Lydia shrugged.

 

"That being said," Malia replied, "The first time you two are stupid I reserve the right to smack whichever one of is the stupidest. Both of you if I deem it necessary."

 

Stiles leaned forward and hugged the three women.  "I love you guys, you know that right?"

 

* * *

  

Dad:

 

"What's going on?"  The Sheriff asked as he walked in the door, the smell of grilling beef reaching his nose.

 

"What makes you think anything is going on?"  Stiles asked, her tone giving away more than she wanted as she winced.  Stiles could not help it, she really wanted her father to take this well.  Derek was going to be it for her, they were going to be together for the rest of their lives starting a week ago, she _really_ wanted her dad to be ok with that.  "I, just thought you deserved a steak."

 

"If that was the case you wouldn't have the whiskey out and poured," Stilinski replied, taking a sip from the heavy bottom glass.  "Now, what do you want me to overlook this time?  You want illegal access to more crime scene reports?"

 

"No, Derek's coming over for dinner," Stiles said quickly, her fingers tangling with each other as she tried to control her flailing.

 

"This is a reason for steak and whiskey?"  Stilinski asked, wondering if putting up with dark and broody was worth a steak dinner before quickly deciding on the steak dinner.  "Derek a special occasion now?"  Stiles opened her moth, closed it, crossed her arms, opened her mouth again, then set her fingers to her lips.  "Stiles, what are you afraid of, tell me."

 

"Derek and I started dating a week ago," Stiles vomited out the words.  Stilinski looked at his daughter, looking more nervous than when she'd broken her grandmothers vase, and blinked.

 

"You're kidding me right?"  Stilinski asked, his voice calm.

 

"No," Stiles replied, sitting at the island and leaning on her forearms, "I'm not kidding dad.  I've liked him for a long time, and he likes me back.  We went out for coffee last week and he asked me out.  I said yes, and we're starting a committed relationship.  I'm telling you before he gets here because I don't want you to shout or threaten him just because..."

 

"You're seventeen," Stilinski said, "Where do you get off going to coffee with a grown man, more or less agreeing to a committed relationship?  Has he put his hands on you?"

 

"I didn't plan to fall in love with him and he didn't plan to fall in love with me," Stiles replied, consciously keeping her voice even.  "We've just started dating and we're not having sex."

 

"I should think not," Stilinski fumed.  "He puts his hands anywhere on you and I'm going to have him arrested!"

 

"No you're not," Stiles replied, standing now, her blood rushing at the idea of Derek getting threatened, even by her father.  "He's been nothing but honest about what he wants.  The first thing he asked for was to have dinner with you and let you get any concerns you have out of the way.  I'm serious dad, you need to be nice to him!"

 

"The hell I do!"  Stilinski shouted.

 

“Dad, please, this is important to me,” Stiles said, her voice raising to match his.  “I won’t have you threatening to hurt him…”

 

“He’s six, closer to seven years older than you,” Stilinski raved.

 

“That won’t matter when I’m 18,” Stiles replied, “And it will matter less the older I get.  Back to the part where I won’t have you threatening him.”

 

“Oh he is getting a serious talk,” Stilinski fumed, “If I can’t make you see reason maybe I can get him to back off.”

 

“No!”  Stiles shouted.  “Dad, I will not have you threaten someone I love who has been the victim of repeated emotional and sexual abuse!”

 

Stilinski stopped dead in his track, her statement completely unexpected.  “Derek... Hale... a victim?”

 

“When he was fifteen a woman used sex to get close to him and murder his parents and most of his family,” Stiles said, her voice low in anger and emotions to riled up to keep anything back.  “His uncle murdered his older sister and didn’t care that you arrested Derek.  The last woman he was seeing, seduced him to use his power to protect herself and ended up getting the rest of his pack killed.  He’s been though enough without you threatening to shoot him just because we fell in love before we should have!”

 

“Oh,” her father replied, not realizing the trauma Derek had been through before he was twenty-five.  It took a few more seconds for him to process everything Stiles had said.  “How is he _not_ a murdering psychopath?”

 

“Why do you think I love him?”  Stiles asked.  "He's been though so much dad.  He's never had a girlfriend with a family who accepted him.  I want him to have that now.  I don't want him to feel like he's taking anything from me because I'm young, or that you resent him because he's older than me.  I want it to be like any other boy you've met."

 

The Sheriff paused.  "Stiles, you've never brought a boy home for me to meet."

 

"Tells you how special Derek is to me right?"  Stiles asked, standing so she could walk and hug her father.  "Please dad," she practically begged, "I love him so much.  He hasn't met people who loved him back just for him since his family died.  I want you to give him a chance at that.  The cuddling on the couch watching movies, family dinners, holidays with stupid sweaters and sports.  Will you do that?  Please?  For me?"

 

Stilinski looked down as his daughter and she turned her face up to him, watery puppy eyes sincere rather than forced.  "Damn it," he said, reaching out for his glass.  "I get two of these tonight, and extra potatoes right?"

 

"And extra potatoes," Stiles promised, hugging him tighter, "Thank you dad, you don't know how much this means to me."

 

"He better treat you right," Stilinski said, "If he doesn't then I'm going to shoot him, and since you won't let me threaten him then he won't know it's coming.  You know that right?"

 

"He ever treats me bad check for demonic possession first,"  Stiles replied.  "Or mind control.  Besides, he had sisters, he knows the protective male stance."

 

"Mind control?"  Stilinski asked, Stiles nodded and he rubbed his hand up and down her back.  "Ok, if he's under mind control I'll let it slide.  When is broody eyebrows showing up?"

 

"Steaks are off in fifteen," Stiles replied, "He should show up in ten or so.  I wanted to give you a little time to rant."

 

"I think my ranting is done,"  Stilinski said, sighing.  "Ok, so you've thought this through?  You really love him?"

 

"He's my soulmate dad," Stiles replied, "No kidding, that's what happened that made me tell him how I've felt about him.  We were trying to divine what happened with a spell and found out we were soulmates.  Not only do I really love him, he's my one chance at pure happiness and I'm his.  That's how you know he's always going to take care of me.  I can't say he won't make me cry, I can't say we won't frustrate each other, but at the end of the day we're starting knowing that we're each other's best shot.  That's all I got."

 

"Well, guess I'll have to get used to this," Stilisnki said, draining the rest of his glass.  "Can I get my second now?"

 

"You may," Stiles replied with a smile, taking the glass to pour her father a second drink and start cooking some vegetables for him.

 

* * *

 

Derek arrived a few minutes later with homemade dessert and a firm handshake for the Sheriff.  True to his promise Stilinski was nice to Derek and asked polite questions about his future and what he had planned.  It was a nice evening, then it came around to their relationship and he dropped a bit of a bombshell.   “Well, I just always thought Stiles were a lesbian,” Stilinski said, looking at the young couple.

 

“Huh?”  Stiles asked, fork halfway to her mouth.

 

“Uh, baby, don’t take this the wrong way, but look how you dress,” Stilinski said, motioning up and down, “Jeans, tee shirt and a flannel shirt.  Add on that you’ve never wanted long hair, no makeup or jewelry.  I mean, you look like lesbian.  I’m surprised you have a _boy_ friend.”

 

"You've never brought _anyone_ home before?" Derek asked, feeling special that he and Stiles were celebrating their first 'first' together.

 

"No, you know that," Stiles said, her cheeks turning a little pink.  "No one before you."

 

"Before she turns redder you have to tell me what's in the white box you brought," Stilinski said, rescuing his little girl.  "Something tells me I get to have it tonight since it's a special occasion."

 

"I'm making you drink a vegetable smoothie for breakfast," Stiles retorted.

 

"I made some individual chocolate cakes," Derek said, "I knew I'd get in trouble with Stiles if I made something that would leave leftovers."

 

"Ah, but you're in trouble with me cause you didn't," Stilinski joked with a smile.  "I get Stiles' cake too."

 

"Hey!"  Stiles protested.

 

"Sorry sir, I'm more scared of her than you," Derek smiled back.

 

"But I'm the one with the badge!"  Stilinski joked, "Rap sheet: refused Sheriff chocolate."

 

"She's the one with the bat," Derek countered, making Stiles' blush.  "And you'd have to prove it, she'd just beat me up for sneaking you sweets."

 

"Damn straight," Stiles smiled back, intertwining her fingers with Derek's.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought.


	6. Valentines Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles and Derek celebrate their first Valentines Day together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something short and cute I wrote while I had writers block on the next chapter.

 

* * *

  

"You ok with not going out?"  Derek asked quietly, he and Stiles curled around each other on the couch, lights low.  The two had opted for a quiet dinner in rather than going to a crowded restaurant.  Derek had cooked steaks while Stiles made some Torun shaped like hearts.

 

"I'm glad we stayed in," Stiles replied, nuzzling into Derek's neck as his fingers trailed up her back.  "Right now I'm just hoping nothing crashes through the window."  Derek gave her a quiet smile and pressed a kiss to her temple.

 

"Hey," he said quietly, "I got you something."

 

"Oh, Derek, you didn't have to," Stiles said, nuzzling further into his neck.  Derek reached over the side of the couch and pulled out the bouquet he'd found.

 

"Happy Valentines Day Stiles," he said.

 

Stiles gasped and looked at it.  "Oh my god, you got me a Star Wars Bouquet?"  She took it in one hand and poked at R2D2 with the other.  "It has a plush Darth Vader, this is great.  I have a mini Boba-Fett."  Derek laughed quietly and kissed Stiles.  "Derek, this is perfect, that you."  Stiles kissed him again.  "I love you."  Stiles gave a happy sigh and a smile, bringing up her free arm to hug Derek and pull him even closer.

 

"Love you back," Derek said.  It had taken him a long time to get used to Stiles saying that she loved him, part of him still wan't used to it.  He still had that warm tingling in his belly, still was a little surprised that Stiles could have picked him.  Even the better part of a year together, Stiles still surprised him by staying.  He wrapped his arms around her and let her snuggle into him.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fandom has officially sucked up all my free time. Let me know what you thought.
> 
> Also, if you're interested in Stiles' bouquet: http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/iprq/?srp=11


	7. Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles faces the fallout from her decision. Her family and friends also notice something's going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place the summer after Wish Granted.

The Sheriff woke up and rolled out of bed, a rare day he didn’t have to work the same day Stiles didn’t have any plans.  Knowing her, she was probably taking the opportunity to get some well earned sleep.  He decided they both deserved some bacon and dug the package out of Stiles ‘secret’ hiding spot.  Soon enough it was crackling on the griddle, but Stiles wasn’t running down the stairs.  It was odd, the scent of bacon usually sent his daughter running as quickly as it sent him.  Stilinski pulled the cooked bacon off the skillet and went upstairs to check on her, he knocked and stuck his head in but Stiles’ bed was unmade and empty.  “Stiles,” he called, checking the rooms, but she was no where to be found.  He started to panic a little and grabbed his phone, apparently Stiles was moving back towards the house from the Preserve.  Stilinski dialed her number.

 

“Hey dad,” Stiles panted after just one ring.  “You awake?”

 

“Yeah, I’m awake,” Stilinski said slowly, “What’s up, you’re out?”

 

“Got up and went for a run,” Stiles replied.

 

“I thought coach wasn’t having you guys start conditioning till August?”  Stilinski asked.

 

“Can we talk when I get home?”  Stiles asked between breaths.  “I want to see how far I can sprint on the last half mile.”  Stilinski agreed and cut of the call.  He sighed, this was new, but it didn’t seem out of places to Stiles.  Something was up and he intended to find out what.

 

Stiles came in, sweating and huffing, “Morning dad…I smell bacon, you made bacon.  You beautiful, beautiful man.”

 

“What’s with the run?”  Her dad asked, taking out some eggs to fry.  “I was saying that coach didn’t start on training till September.”

 

“Anything wrong with wanting to get ahead?”  Stiles asked, pulling a fresh water bottle and draining half of it.  “I realized the other day I can only do a couple pull ups, need to get that back up.”

 

“You’re in pretty good shape Stiles,” her father said, scooping two eggs and some bacon onto her plate.

 

“I don’t want pretty good,” Stiles said, “I want to kick ass next year and it’s harder for me to get muscle built up.  Gotta start now.”

 

“Ok,” Stilinski said, his mouth set in a line.  “Well, you got time to grill some wings with your old man for the game tonight?”  Stiles nodded and annoyed him by using a healthy rub for the wings instead of sauce, and even more annoyed when he enjoyed them.

 

* * *

 

“Uh Stiles,” Scott asked, looking at the notes and ingredients Stiles had laid out in front of her.  “I thought you said you were doing a protection spell for the school?”

 

“This is a better one,” Stiles replied, reaching out and grabbing different ingredients before mixing them together in each specific order.  “I found it last week in an old manuscript Derek had.”

 

“This looks like some pretty advanced stuff,” Lydia said, scanning over the page.

 

“I’ve been practicing,” Stiles replied absentmindedly.  “Hopefully it doesn’t explode.  Though if it does you guys might not want to be here, catch you later?”  Scott and Lydia both nodded and backed away from the potentially dangerous magical components and seeing that Stiles wanted to be alone.

 

“Hey,” Lydia asked, turning to Scott once they were outside earshot, “Is it just me, or is Stiles, like, focused lately.  I mean, oddly so.”

 

“Good, I’m glad it’s not just me,” Scott said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder, “I mean, I knew Stiles was good but there’s no way in hell she was ready for that last semester.  That’s some heavy magic shit she’s got going on.  I took a few pictures, I want to check with Deaton about what she’s doing.”

 

“Stiles isn’t the type to mess around with magic,” Lydia said, shaking her head.  “I mean, I know she’s a sarcastic ass sometimes but she’s never messed with stuff that could endanger us or herself.  Think something’s going on?”

 

“I think we should check with Derek,” Scott mused.

 

“He’s not making he do this,” Lydia huffed, “No one makes Stiles do anything, and you need to get over the fact that she’s seeing Derek.”  Lydia was very proud that she didn't roll her eyes at Scott, he needed to get over the fact that Stiles and Derek were seeing each other and realize there were other things going on in the world.

 

“No, I’m saying all this stuff started happening around the time she started seeing Derek,” Scott corrected, “Maybe he knows something we don’t.  I don’t like the idea of either of them keeping a secret, I asked Stiles what was up and her heartbeat sped up when she said it was nothing.”

 

“Maybe she's nervous because you don’t approve of her boyfriend and your opinion means something to her,” Lydia replied even as she climbed into the car with Scott and they headed towards the loft.  “I mean, she hasn’t had a serious relationship before, this stuff is different for girls, it’s a lot to process.”

 

“Stiles isn’t a girl, she’s one of the guys,” Scott protested, “I mean, I’m not complaining that she’s working towards hockey or improving her magic skills, I’m just saying she’s OCD and this is _Stiles_ queen of ADHD.”

 

“And she keeps dodging the question when you ask her what’s up?”  Lydia asked, starting to agree with Scott’s argument.

 

“She just said she was working through something,” Scott asked, “I mean, what could be that life changing that she’s so set on getting through.”

 

“College applications?  Older boyfriend?  Pick the emergency happening this week?”  Lydia offered, ticking off her best thoughts as they pulled up to Derek’s and walked upstairs.

 

“Maybe,” Scott said as they walked in the door, “I don’t know.”

 

“Sure, come on in,” Derek groused from his couch, marking his page and closing the tome.

 

“You should lock your door if you don’t want people coming in,” Lydia replied, “Scott’s worried about Stiles.”

 

“Yeah, she’s trying a new spell and it’s really more advanced than anything I’ve seen her do before,” Scott said, “I just want to make sure we’re dealing with Stiles and not…you know…again.”

 

“It’s not Nogitsune,” Derek assured them, standing.

 

“How do you know?”  Scott asked, “I mean, we didn’t kill it, what if it got out somehow?”

 

“Chess,” Derek said, shoving his hands in his pockets.  He didn’t like to think back to that time, it seemed like forever ago but it hadn’t really been that long.  It was hard to believe the woman who would be his mate was once a boy possessed by an evil demon. “Stiles was going to bring it up at your next pack meeting.  She said, that if we ever get that one word message, that it’s back.  She also said something about putting a failsafe in, but I can’t get that out of her.”

 

“Derek, last time…” Scott started.

 

“You don’t have to remind me,” Derek barked, not wanting to think about the dead that continued to haunt him.  “You’re not the only one dealing with a pile of shit.  If you want to know what’s up with Stiles, ask Stiles.  I’m not going to tell you anything she’s told me in confidence.  Either you ask her, or both of us when we’re together.  I’m not here to fix whatever’s got your panties in a twist about my girlfriend.”

 

“This escalated quickly,” Lydia said, standing between the two, “But I think we’ve figured out what’s bothering Stiles.  She’s working on something to keep Nogitsune at bay if it ever comes back.”  Lydia patted Scott on the chest.  “Let’s ask her about it at the pack meeting and let Derek get back to his day?  Derek, thanks for putting up with us barging in, we’ll see you later ok?”  Derek nodded and Lydia got Scott out of there.  All three had things to think about, but only Derek had an inkling about what was really going on.

 

* * *

 

“You want to talk about this kick you’re on?”  Derek asked as Stiles attacked the punching bag.  “You’ve been going non stop for weeks.”

 

“Just working through this,” Stiles replied, turning and delivering a powerful kick to the bag.

 

“That one’s new,” he mused.

 

Stiles turned with a smile and suddenly her knees were wrapped around his legs and he was on the ground in an arm hold.  “This one’s new too, what do you think?”  She rolled on top of him and smiled down, eyes playful.

 

“I think you found someone to study martial arts with and your dad says you’ve been spending three hour stints at the range on weekends,” Derek said, sitting up and wrapping her in a hug, his voice intentionally even.  “You’re been working out more, practicing magic at all hours, and you’re not talking to me about anything except schoolwork for the summer.  What’s going on Stiles?”

 

“It’s nothing,” Stiles replied, shifting her legs to be closer to him.  “Just want to make sure I can keep up with... everything...  And while I’ve got some memory of playing hockey, I really want to do well this winter when I actually play for the first time.”

 

“I want you to make me a promise, and I’ll make one too ok,” Derek said, sighing, “And this isn’t going to be easy for me, but whenever we’re bothered by something I want to talk about it.”  He reached up and ran his hand through her short hair, smelling the faint saltiness of her sweat.  “Even if it’s something really little or if we think it’s stupid.  We talk ok?”

 

“Ok,” Stiles said, resting her forehead on his, “We’ll talk if we need to.  I’m just working out Derek, not going crazy.  I promise.”

 

“Going?” Derek asked.  Stiles laughed and punched him lightly on the arm before he pressed a kiss to her lips.  “Also, from now on, how about I train with you?  Everyone is worried about you pushing yourself to hard and burning out.”  Stiles started to answer before Derek cut her off.  “Melissa gave me permission to threaten you with her if you don’t agree.”

 

“Low blow Hale,” Stiles said, eyes narrowing, “Low blow.”

 

“She gave me a routine with plenty of leg exercises and endurance conditioning,” Derek smiled, kissing Stiles’ nose.  “We’ll have you skating circles around everyone this fall.”

 

* * *

 

“I’ll grab the prescriptions, meet you in produce?”  Stilinski asked.

 

“Sure dad,” Stiles replied, taking the cart and running off to the other side of the store.

 

“Good evening,” the pharmacist said with a smile, “Have your insurance information Sheriff?”

 

“Yeah,” he said, pulling out his credit card.

 

“Here’s your daughters Ortho Evra, and that’ll be…” she started.

 

“Wait, what about her Adderall?”  Stilinski asked.  “Isn’t she due for a refill?”

 

“One hasn’t been called in,” the pharmacist replied, checking her records on the computer.  “That last order I have is for the patch.”  The Sheriff nodded and processed his copay before walking over to produce to see his daughter comparing watermelon choices.  “Hey baby girl?”  She hummed an answer and put one in the cart.  “You’re going on the patch and you didn’t call in your Adderall refill?  Something you want to tell me.”

 

“Sports are easier when I don’t get surprised,” Stiles explained, “And, I kind of stopped taking my Adderall.  I haven’t really needed it since I started the training.”

 

“You talk to your doctor about it?”  Stilinski asked.  Stiles nodded and then changed the discussion to what vegetables she could get him to eat if they were mixed with yogurt in a smoothie.  As soon as they got home he grabbed his phone and called Melissa while Stiles went off for an evening run.  “Hey, it’s me, you got a minute?”

 

“Sure,” Melissa said, the sound of pots and pans moving in the background.  “What’s going on?”

 

“I have a girl question and a medical question,” Stilisnki continued, “If found out today that Stiles went on the patch.  Should I be worried?”

 

“I don’t think so,” Melissa replied, “I’m actually surprised she waited this long to start.  Most girls involved in sports go on as soon as they can.  You don’t want to get surprised by a period early or late.  She said her and Derek were taking it slow, gotta trust her at some point.”

 

“It’s not about trusting her, it’s more about I disapproved of her turning twelve and trust no one male around her,” Stilinski joked.  “Here’s what I’m a little more concerned about - she’s stopped taking her Adderall.  I just checked the cabinet and she’s been off it for a few weeks, she said since she started training.”

 

“How hard has she been training?”  Melissa asked.

 

“Usually intense hour minimum stints fives times a week,” Stilinski said, “One hour pilates and yoga on her off days.”

 

“It’s possible she doesn’t feel like she needs them, maybe she’s just super focused on the fitness kick,” Melissa said, “Check her summer assignments, have her do one while you’re in the kitchen.  If she’s loosing focus and it’s not done right talk to her doctor about a different dose.  Hey body's going through the last of it's changes before adulthood, something could be evening out.  At the end of the day Stiles’ is the expert on her own body, give her a chance.”

 

“Ok, thanks Melissa,” Stilinski said, “Hey, still want to have the end of summer party in a few weeks?”

 

“You kidding, Scott hasn’t stopped talking about it,” Melissa said, “And don’t worry, he’ll behave around Derek.”

 

“He better,” Stilinski said, “If I have to be nice than he does too.”  Melissa laughed and they talked about which snacks each would bring.

 

* * *

 

“Hey dad,” Stiles said, panting slightly into the phone.  “What’s up.”

 

“Not much…” Stilinski said, wondering what was off with his daughter’s tone, “Wanted to see what you were doing for dinner tonight?”

 

“I don’t know, any ideas?”  She asked, her words biting a little like she was clenching her stomach followed by half a sigh.

 

“I’m not sure so we’ll probably roll the dice,” Stilinski said, “I’ll text you if I think of something?”

 

“Sure, thanks dad,” Stiles replied quickly, “Gotta go, love you.”

 

Just as she hung up the phone he heard a second much deeper voice, also half groaning and breathless.  “Come on Stiles, off the phone.”

 

Stilinski was so mad he could see red, pulling up the app that let him track his daughters phone.  He’d insisted on it after the sleepwalking incident and had been relieved when Stiles agreed without complaint.  Right now he was glad though, because his teenage daughter was at her boyfriend’s loft, and her boyfriend was six years older _and_ had _promised_ his to keep his hands off her.  He was in his cruiser before he could remember leaving the building, sure enough when he got to Derek’s address Stiles’ jeep was parked out front.  He was honestly ready to shoot Derek Hale when he climbed quietly up the stairs and threw open the main door, which was unlocked for some reason.  What he saw made his vision go red again; Stiles was leaning forward, bent in half with her hands on the ground as Derek knelt behind her with his hands on her hips and no shirt on.  “Hey!”

 

“Hello,” Derek greeted apparently unaware he was a few seconds away from being shot.  “Ok Stiles, walk your hands around to our right.”

 

Stiles groaned into the floor and Stilinski saw her hands move, it was only then he processed that Stiles was dressed in her work out gear and Derek was in shorts and sneakers.  He’d probably removed his shirt because California summers were always boiling in this part of the state.  “I really hate you,” Stiles groaned, still holding the pose as Derek pressed on her hips to make her stretch more.

 

“You’ll hate me less when your muscles don’t lock up,” Derek said, “Now, around to the left, walk your hands slowly.  Is something wrong?”

 

“Uh, no…just didn’t know where Stiles was…and…uh…” He stuttered.

 

“Dad, I told you we weren’t going to have sex until I was eighteen,” Stiles said into the floor, exasperated.  “And when we have sex, you will not be hearing anything about it!”  Stiles walked her hands back to the center and leaned up to stretch her arms.  Derek moved back and tried to look anywhere but at the two Stilinskis.  “Don’t lie to me, your poker face is worse than mine.  Derek’s helping me work out, I said I want to build some more muscle up for next season.  Now, go back to work and I’m going to figure out what we’re having for dinner.”

 

* * *

 

“Ok, knees up, knees up!”  Derek called, timer and whistle in hand as Stiles ran skating drills.  He kept his energy up even as Stiles pushed her way through the exercises, the leg conditioning she’d been working on all summer helped.  It was odd, the implanted memories from Jinny had years of skating practice, but there was a new edge to her form that told her body she hadn't actually done any of this before.  The focus that had kept her going all summer was starting to waiver just thirty minutes into their routine.  "Hey," Derek called, interrupting her thought process.  "We're done for now, you're focus is off."

 

"I'm fine," Stiles protested, skating up to him.  "We still have to..."

 

"Stiles, what did we promise each other?"  Derek said quietly, his eyes soft.

 

"That we'll talk when something's bothering us," Stiles said, shaking her head.  "I still need to do shooting drills on the ice, it's different on ice than your pavement drills."

 

"Let's break, get some food, and we'll see what your headspace is like then," Derek said, walking along the ice as they made their way to the wall.  "I don't want to have to explain to anyone how you got hurt while we were working out."

 

"Ok," Stiles said, making her way to the locker room to change out of her gear and stash the skates.

 

"Hey Stiles!"  Jeremy called, he played goalie on the team.

 

"Girls locker room Jeremy," Stiles said, pulling off her shirt so she was just in her shorts and sports bra.

 

"You've never cared," Jeremy said, sitting down on the bench near her as she pulled on her regular cloths.  "Your dad sprung the cash for a personal trainer?  How'd you manage that?"

 

Stiles laughed, shaking her hair out a bit and toweling the sweat from it.  "That's not my trainer, that's my boyfriend."

 

" _That's_ Derek?"  Jeremy asked, "He has a beard!"

 

"If you didn't shave you'd have a beard too," Stiles shrugged.

 

Before Jeremy could reply, his cousin Becca who played left wing barged in.  The two must have been planing a training day of their own.  "Oh my God there is a tall drink of bad boy leather jacket outside.  I want him.  Anyone know his name?"

 

"To bad, that's Derek," Jeremy said, Stiles rolled her eyes and pulled her sneakers on.  Becca raised an eyebrow and jerked her head toward Stiles and then back at the door.  "Yup, Stiles' Derek, so sorry kiddo."

 

"If he has a brother or you ever stop wanting him," Becca said, pretending to swoon against the lockers.  "That boy has very charming shoulders."

 

"I'll let him know you're next in line," Stiles replied.  "See you two later?"

 

"Hey, we're doing shots later if you want in," Becca offered, pulling out her own skating gear.  "Give us another person?"

 

"Maybe," Stiles replied, throwing her bag over her shoulder.  She waved goodbye and walked out to Derek.  "What do you want to do for lunch?"

 

"How about that new cafe?  The one with the smoothies?"  Derek asked, escorting them out to the car.  Stiles climbed in and, unfortunately, Derek didn't give her any time to start a new topic.  "So, what's up with the space cadet today.  Few months ago this would have been normal but recently..."

 

"You know I've never really skated before," Stiles interjected.  "I mean, not like this.  I think this is what The Matrix must have been like.  I have all these memories, but they're not mine."  Stiles bit her lip and stared out the window.  "It's just hitting me, that I'm never going to get to joke in the locker room with Scott again.  All those times we worked on Lacrosse, pranks on the lockers, those memories are with Jeremy and Becca and Rachel now.  Before today I didn't really know them all that well, just by name cause we're at the same school.  Except now Rachel was at my thirteenth birthday party when my dad got me my first full set of gear for high school.  It's just...it's just a lot."

 

Derek reached over and took Stiles' hand, still having trouble accepting what Stiles had been willing to change to be with him.  "I love you," Derek said, bringing the hand to his lips.  "Keep talking ok?"

 

"I still have my great memories with Scott," Stiles said, her voice far away, "Anything outside of lacrosse hasn't really changed.  Same pranks, same stuff, same talking about girls...well boys in my case...I guess Jinny must have done something about that whole I used to love Lydia thing.  I'm still bi so I guess Stiles was ok with that..."

 

"Scott was ok with that when you were a guy, shouldn't be any different now," Derek said, "He'll always be your best friend."

 

"Who has no idea I used to be a guy," Stiles replied.  "I don't, don't ever think that I regret this.  I'm scared of failing at this.  I want this to be good, I want things to stay as close to the same as they can but what if I screw all of this up?  What if I end up loosing my friends and then what happens if you... and I can't..."

 

"You know I'm never going to leave you, right?"  Derek said after Stiles flailed about for a moment, her free hand going from one side of the car to the other.  "You could do a lot of terrible things and I'd still be right there protecting you from anyone that had anything to say about it.  Besides, if either of us have a track record of failing that's me."  Stiles rolled her eyes at him.  "Everyone I've loved has died, and anyone that didn't die, doesn't want anything to do with me.  If you think I'm not terrified of this blowing up in my face...well just know that I am.  I can never do enough to match what you've sacrificed for me, and I don't even think that I'm worth it.  That's why I want to be here for you, you're not going through any of this alone."

 

"Derek...you need to heal from what happened," Stiles said, taking his large hand in both of hers.  "Those things happened, but not everything is your fault, you don't always have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.  You deserve to be happy and loved."

 

Derek gave a wry laugh and looked over at Stiles, "And here I am supposed to be comforting you and listening to you and now it's the other way around.  Notice the whole failing thing going on here."

 

Stiles gave a large sigh.  "I'm going to do something unsafe, deal with it."  Stiles unbuckled her seatbelt and crawled over the armrest to settle across Derek's lap, he was big enough to still reach the steering wheel safely but it wasn't a very safe way to drive.  "Derek, you and I are here for each other.  Whatever it bothering either of us.  Comforting don't have to be exclusive you know, mutual comforting."

 

"I'm going to do something unsafe now," Derek smiled back, leaned down to give Stiles a quick kiss.

 

"Eyes on the road mister," Stiles smiled, settling into the curve of Derek's shoulder.  "I just want you to always remember I love you, even when I screw up and do stupid stuff like worry if I'm going to be good at hockey."

 

"Well, just remember I love you, even when I'm an insecure neurotic mess," Derek said back, pulling through the drive through.

 

"I'm serious though," Stiles asked as she shifted into her own seat and picked out her sandwich smoothie combo.  "What happens if I'm no good at this?  You know, at being a girl?"

 

Derek looked confused as he pulled forward and paid the attendant before taking their food.  "What do you mean?"  He pulled into a parking spot and handed Stiles her sandwich, waiting as she put her thoughts in order.

 

"I'm not going to look like Lydia every day," Stiles sighed.  "I mean, this is me."  She gestured to her flannel over shirt and jeans.  "This is always going to be me.  I'm not going to stop watching Star Wars or reading comic books."  Derek continued to look confused.  "No long hair, no short skirts."

 

"If I wanted that I'd be dating Lydia," Derek said between bites.  "You don't think there are girls out there that are jocks, geeks, or dorks?  You saying you're worried about being a girl is like me saying I'm worried about being a guy."

 

"Well here's a success as a woman, I didn't say I had to be logical I just said it was bothering me," Stiles grumbled, slouching in her seat.

 

"I'm not negating that Stiles," Derek said, "I'm saying that you're good, you want to be a girl that wears sneakers then great.  You want to try short skirts, go for it, but I always wondered how Lydia managed to keep with us in those heels without breaking an ankle."

 

"I just still feel like a guy with a different shell," Stiles said, "I think I just need to move right now, can we go back to training after we eat."

 

"Thirty minutes, don't want you getting sick," Derek agreed, "So, you're feeling weird about the change right?  I'm trying to get a read on what you're thinking is all."

 

"I don't know what I'm thinking," Stiles said.  "I'm just thinking in circles.  What I need to do today is stop thinking."

 

"Ok, talk to me about the hockey plays you want to run," Derek said, sensing that he shouldn't push the topic right that second.  Stiles talked about hockey the rest of the afternoon, her only other words were for the plans they would make that weekend.  Both were enjoying the lull between emergencies to just learn how to be with each other.

 

* * *

 

Stiles hummed into the hug as Derek leaned back on her couch, beer in hand and baseball playing in the background.  The Sheriff was in the other room getting some more snacks from the veggie tray between innings.  Derek laughed a little as Stiles just nuzzled closer, humming again as her small nose tickled his neck.  "What's up?"  Derek asked, his free arm wrapped around her now running his thumb over her shoulder.

 

"I'm so freaking happy," Stiles smiled, wrapping both her arms around him.  "I never thought I'd get this.  I always thought I was going to be so awkward and gawky that no one would really notice me."  Derek sighed and pulled her closer to him, the warmth from her torso seeping into his own and warming him in return.  It was a warmth he never thought he would be allowed to have again, that anyone he met would not be able to see past the monster he held inside him.  Stiles had blasted her way past all those walls and brought the warmth of hope back into his life.  His thoughts were interrupted by a single finger pressing between his eyebrows.  "Where'd you go?  You have that thinking wrinkle."

 

Derek set his beer down on the side table and wrapped Stiles even closer; breathing in the scent of her shampoo, her soap, and the specific scent that was just  _Stiles_ , the one that smelled like home.  "I never thought I could be happy again," Derek breathed quietly.  "I don't have the words to tell you how grateful I am for you and for everything you've done."  Stiles shifted so she could half sit, half lean against Derek and rested her forehead against his, a small smile on her face.  Neither noticed the Sheriff sneak in the room, his phone out snapping a photo of the two just looking at each other like the rest of the world didn't exist.

 

"Hey there kiddos," Stilinski announced himself once his phone was safe in his pocket again.  "Score still the same?"

 

"Yeah," Stiles replied, turning back to her side and curing into Derek, his arm safely around her middle.  The three continued to watch the game until Stilinski called it a night for everyone, then Stiles was walking Derek out to her car.  "Hey, you coming to Scott's meeting this weekend?"

 

"Nah," Derek said, "Wouldn't want an alpha in there.  It's a werewolf thing."  Stiles smiled and leaned against him, breathing in the spicy scent as much as she could, tingling creeping it's way through her body as one of Derek's large hands moved up her back to cup her neck.  Then warm lips pressed against hers, mostly a surprise and hot desire shot through her when Derek's tongue took advantage of her gasp to lick into her mouth.  Stiles moaned and leaned heavily against the solid wall of muscle, knees a little weak and her head getting fuzzy when they didn't break for air.  She wouldn't have cared if she passed out, so long as she could keep kissing Derek and feel the trails of fire his fingers left on her skin.  Derek broke the kiss with a sigh and wrapped his arms further around her, enveloping her.  Neither wanted to let go, and they didn't until the Sheriff poked his head out the door and reminded Stiles that curfew meant she was in the house and the driveway didn't count.  Stiles kissed Derek goodbye ~~one~~ several more times before turning to debate her father if property lines counted in the curfew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews make every writer's day. (Also, what's with the attack of the fluff in my writing lately, they're to cute!)


	8. Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiloh needs to talk to his parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place roughly twenty years after Derek and Stiles get married, Shiloh is a teenager.

* * *

 

“Mom,” Shiloh said, his hands twisting nervously in front of him as she bounced around the kitchen grumbling about plans for the night.  He hoped he'd gone over every way this conversation could end in his brain, that the one horror story he hadn't thought of wouldn't play out in his childhood kitchen.  “I’m…gay…”

 

“I know, thank you for telling me,” Stiles said, hugging him firmly and pressing a kiss to his cheek, then hugging him again for a long time.  “Still need an idea for dinner, and now it has to be special…I don’t think I have any steak in the house." She picked up her cook book and started flipping through the pages.  "Chicken casserole is your favorite but we just had that last week.”

 

“Uh, mom, did you hear me?”  Shiloh asked, his blood running a little cold and brain short-circuiting, this was a situation he hadn't thought out.

 

“Yes, I heard you, and I’m _so_ proud of you, and I am stuck on a special dinner with a full house,” Stiles said, looking back down at her book, hearing the car pull up outside.  “Maybe your father has an idea.”

 

“That’s all?”  Shiloh choked, his stomach free-falling, he didn't know how to handle this reaction.  “You’re not ang…”

 

“Hey guys, I come bearing food,” Derek interrupted, his face taking a concerned look as he saw Shiloh standing in the kitchen like he’d been gut punched.  “What’s wrong?”

 

“Dad, I’m gay,” Shiloh confessed.

 

“Yes I know, but what’s wrong?”  Derek asked, looking more concerned and his skin paling, “You look like someone died.”  He turned to Stiles.  “No one died did they?”

 

Stiles looked up, “No.”  Her son suddenly burst into tears and she practically vaulted the kitchen island to wrap him in her arms.  “Baby, come here.”

 

“Shiloh,” Derek said, pulling both his son and wife close.  “What’s wrong?”

 

“I thought you’d be mad,” Shiloh hiccuped as his parents held him.

 

“Baby boy,” Stiles said, reaching up to cup her son’s face.  “There is nothing you could be or do that would ever make us love you less or be any less proud of you.  Unless you were punting orphans and puppies into a volcano, then we might need to have a talk.”

 

Shiloh laughed through his now happy tears and hugged his parents back.  “Thank you.”

 

There was a few moments of silence before Derek perked up.  “You bringing someone home for us to meet?  Does this mean I finally get to threaten a boyfriend?”

 

“Dad!”  Shiloh said, wiping his eyes.

 

“Derek,” Stiles warned, “I still need an idea for dinner.”  She walked back to the other side of the island and dug through the grocery bags.  “Also Derek, put something down on the table before the guns, I don't want gun oil in the woodwork.”

 

“Mom!”  Shiloh gasped.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone thinks Stiles and Derek aren’t taking Shiloh’s announcement seriously. Shiloh was worried his parents view his sexuality as “wrong,” which any child that grows up in any environment can still perceive. In reality, both parents knew so the issue wasn’t as big as Shiloh built it up to be in his head. Derek was way more concerned that someone was dead and Stiles was having a brief ADD attack and trying to focus on how to feed nine people at the last minute.
> 
> Think about the phrasing - What’s wrong - I’m gay - Yes, but what’s wrong?  
> (This should be every reaction ever)


	9. Dowry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles' grandmother comes to visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place a few months after Stiles and Derek get engaged but before she heads off to college. This is mostly a Derek POV so I did not translate the Polish, imaging a grandma coming and saying they're grandchild is to skinny. Lastly if anyone speaks Polish, I apologize for almost certainly getting the grammar structure wrong.

* * *

 

“Babcia!”  Stiles said, smiling and letting to of Derek’s hand to run to the older woman leaving the gate area.

 

“Ah, mój Madzeija,” the elderly woman said with a broad smile and a hug, frowning and poking at Stiles’ middle after the hug.  “Ehh, jestes cienki!”

 

“Nie, jest ok,” Stiles said.  Derek gave a little smirk, he hadn’t known Siles spoke Polish.  “Chodz, tata czeka, i chce zebys poznal Derek.”  Stiles took the old woman’s bag and hand, walking them towards the older man.

 

“Brooding jednym z brwiami?”  She replied with the slightest hint of a frown.  “Jak mój syn na to pozwolic?  On jest za stary dla ciebie?”

 

Stiles knew Derek could hear them despite the busy airport and smiled at his lover.  “To broda.  Sprawia, ze wiggled na starsza.  To i zycie, on in mail Spokojnie babcia, disc latwo na niego.”

 

“Ja nie obiecuje,” The old woman said, smiling again but with a slight edge to her look on Derek.  He felt like he was being judged.  “You must be the Derek I’ve heard so much about, here to steal my Madzeija away from a poor old woman.”

 

“Hello ma’am,” Derek said, taking the bag from Stiles and gently shaking her hand.  “I don’t have any family to steal her away to, so it’s you that are stealing me.”

 

“Madzeija has no mother so I must be the one to judge if you are worthy of her,” the woman said. “You may call me Babcia, it means grandmother in Polish and is a sign of respect.  As you are already engaged to my beloved granddaughter, I think there is little I can do about calling me Mrs. Sitles.  That would be improper.”

 

“Babcia, am I pronouncing that right?”  Derek asked.

 

“Close enough for anyone not raised in Poland,” she replied as they exited the airport to the waiting car.  “And thank you for carrying my bag young man, it doesn’t go unnoticed.”

 

“My mother raised a gentleman,” Derek said, aware of Stiles’ wink behind her grandmother’s back.

 

“Stiles told me a little of your family,” Babcia said, “I am sorry dear, though I must warn you in taking this one on you gain quite a bit.”

 

“I think I’m ok with that,” Derek smiled as Stiles helped her into the car.  “She’s worth it.”

 

“Mom,” Stilinski groaned from the front seat, “Are you behaving?”

 

“It’s adorable that you believe I would listed to you after all this time,” she replied with an even wider smile, “Come here mój syn, you are also to skinny.  I’ll have to cook for you.”

 

“Stiles, do you think this is a bad time to mention I’m the other side of forty-five?”  Stilinski asked.

 

“I’m running away from that discussion,” Stiles said, buckling up as Derek slid in next to him.  “Not walking, running.”

 

“And I plead the fifth,” Derek said, holding up both hands.  It was not a joke, he would not want to cross Babcia.

 

“I will remember this you two,” Stilinski said, starting the car and rolling the windows down further when Babcia indicated for him to.  “Especially you Derek, when I see your children they will get all of the sugar I have in the house.”

 

“I already expected that,” Derek said, “Also, forgive my ignorance, but why do you keep saying something hard to pronounce that starts with an M.”  The other three in the car busted out laughing.  “What did I miss.”

 

“You haven’t told him?”  Babcia asked between throaty chuckles.

 

“Actually, it never came up,” Stiles laughed right back.

 

“Sorry Derek,” Stilinski said, “It’s her name, her real name.  She’s been ‘Stiles’ since she started school, I don’t even remember where the nickname game from but no one could pronounce Madzeija’s name so she switched it to this.  Even I almost never call her that.”

 

“You know I’m going to have to spell this at some point,” Derek said, “You know, on our wedding paperwork.  How have you never told me your full name?”

 

"Dad, when was the last time I went by Madzeija?"  Stiles asked.

 

"Uh...the day before you met Scott," He replied.

 

"It's not that hard," Babcia replied.  The conversation continued as they made their was back to the Stilinski's and Derek had his first chance for a fully Polish meal.  He didn't miss that Babcia kept putting food on everyone's plate until the Sheriff took pity on the table and cleared the dishes away to make room for coffee and cake.  Babcia was speaking of their wedding, Derek and Stiles answering as best they could since nothing was planned yet.  Then came the ritual interrogation about what his plans were for the future.  “Well, you will do,” Babcia said at the end of her questioning, finishing her tea, “I will have Madzeija’s dowry sent over once I return, you have storage solutions until you get a house of your own.”

 

“Mama,” the Sheriff said, “You said that would never leave home.”

 

“I have made my peace that you will never move back home, to much of your wife here to ever let her go,” Babcia said, “I can understand that my dear.  Madzeija is the only girl left of the Stilinskis, it is right that she should get it.  Hopefully one day she has a daughter and can tell her stories of the old world and where it came from.”

 

“Babcia,” Stiles said, her eyes a little watery.  “You don’t have to.”

 

“I don’t understand,” Derek said.

 

“Madzeija is the only granddaughter I have,” Babcia said, “There have been things passed down through the generations.  A dining room set, some china, other things, and they will belong to Madzeija, as they once belonged to my mother in law and her mother and so on.”

 

“Some of it is over two hundred years old,” The Sheriff explained.  "The furniture and the china."

 

“Also, more importantly,” Babcia said, turning and pulling a very old box out of her bag.  It’s clearly something Sheriff Stilinski recognizes as he gazes at it.  “This is for you Madzeija, from the other women of our family.”

 

“Babcia?”  She asked, taking the box and opening it reverently.  Inside it a beautiful set of pearls, one gradient strand that would lay around her collar bones, and a set of earrings set in delicate diamonds.  “Great-grandmother’s jewels?”

 

“You will be the fifth generation of Skilinski’s to wear these on your wedding day, since they were a present to our great grandmother on her wedding day,” Babcia said, “Now, they go to you.”  A few tears and many hugs later the Sheriff helped Babcia carry her things upstairs to get settled.  Derek and Stiles went out on the back porch to talk.

 

“I want to rebuild Hale House,” Stiles said, lowering herself down to Derek’s lap.  “Do you hate that I said that?”  Derek bowed his head, Stiles bumped her forehead with his and looped her arms around his neck.  “I know it’s not a little thing with you.  It’s more than a house or a piece of land.  You can say no.”

 

“No, it’s all right, I’ve been thinking about it too,” Derek said, “Thinking maybe it is time to rebuild.  Add another wing on if Cora decides to visit so she has her own space.  Maybe put on a porch, like a big wrap around.  Lots of bed rooms and a big open first floor.”

 

“You serious?”  Stiles asked, relaxing into him.

 

Derek ran his hand over her back and neck, his wolf reveling in the touch.  “I’ve been thinking about a home with you, a real one, not the loft.  It’s no place to start a family and one day I want that with you.  Hale House has always meant home to me, and until now I haven’t had that.”

 

“You’re so cheesy and I love it, just as much as I love you,” Stiles said quietly.  “Knowing you, you want to look into building it yourself.”

 

“I’ve been thinking about that too,” Derek said, “I’ve always been good with my hands, and I’ve always done my own repairs.  I thought about going to school for Architecture and Carpentry.  Something to keep me busy once you head off to school this August.”  Stiles smiled ridiculously wide into Derek’s chest.  “Somewhere just ours, I want that and I want it with you.”  Stiles buried her face into Derek's neck and nipped at the skin there, chuckling low in her throat.  "I love you too Stiles."

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think.
> 
> Also, in this universe, Stiles real name as a girl is Madzeija.


	10. Baby Book: Test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles and Derek find out the good news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of a small set that will follow Derek and Stiles through their first pregnancy and their first year with kids. Be prepared for fluff and feels everyone! This is set a few years into their marriage.

* * *

  

Stiles sighed, pacing the short span of their bathroom. Derek was out with Scott for patrol and she was using the time wisely since he wouldn't be able to smell her anxiety or hear her heartbeat.  The three tests were only supposed to take ninety seconds each, but it seemed like years as she paced, the timer waiting to go off.  Stiles ran a hand over her abdomen, her period was supposed to be a week ago but it hadn't come, thankfully there was something roaming The Preserve so Derek hadn't noticed the delay.  She and Derek had been trying to get pregnant for a year, and she was loathe to believe that it had finally happened until she had test results.

 

Her timer trang, but before she could look at the test results the front door slammed open.  "Stiles," Derek called, his voice loud with panic.  "Stiles quick, it bit Scott."  The tests were forgotten as Stiles ran into the kitchen, Derek was helping Scott onto their kitchen table when Stiles grabbed the medical healing kit from her storeroom.

 

"What was it?"  Stiles asked, all other thought pushed from her mind as Scott was bleeding on her table, the great claw marks scoured his shoulder and chest with bite punctures in his abdomen.

 

"Don't know, got a picture," Derek replied setting his phone on the counter, "I can smell poison in the wound though, had to run him home, they aren't healing by themselves.  It smells like caladium."

 

"Got it," Stiles replied, digging out supplies and working quickly as Derek restrained the struggling Scott to the table.  Her hands were glowing over her best friend as she purified the poison running through his system.  As Scott's body was cleansed, he began to relax and calm down.  "I got this babe, why don't you call the pack over and wash up."  Derek nodded and pressed a kiss against her forehead.

 

"I'll tell Kira to bring the books and pizza, it's going to be a research night," he continued as he pulled out his phone.  Stiles focused on Scott and let Derek's voice fade into the background.  "No Kira, Scott's gong to be fine, Stiles is healing him.  What ever it was had some poison on his claws."  She focused on a particularly sensitive part of his abdomen and Scott began to thrash again.  "Anyway, get on over here, he's going to be out of it for a while."

 

"Derek, we need to hold him," Stiles called out.  Derek ended the call and moved back to the table to help restrain Scott.  It took Stiles a few minutes more to heal him and then make a seal so Scott's own healing power could take over.  "How long till his werewolf abilities kick in?"

 

"It'll focus on burning the poison out of his system first," Derek replied, handing her ingredients to complete making the seal.  "Then it'll heal the external wounds.  He should be fine soon, a few hours tops, I'm going to stay out here till Kira arrives ok?"  Stiles nodded, knowing better than to argue with him when Scott could accidentally wound her with his claws.

 

"Here, let me look at you," Stiles said, running her hand over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't hit anywhere.  "Did you get hit anywhere?"

 

"I think I got a few scratches from the trees," Derek assured, putting his hand over hers.  "Nothing serious."  They continued to watch over Scott while Stiles made sure Derek was all right, the next thing that interrupted him was the front door opening.

 

"Scott's all right?"  Kira called from the front, the smell of pizza already wafting in as she toed off her shoes.

 

"He's fine, we're in the kitchen," Stiles called, smiling and pressing a kiss to Derek's lips.  "Kira's here, go get cleaned up."

 

"Ok," Derek said, smiling and pressing a second kiss to her before heading off for the shower.

 

"He looks better," Lydia said, carrying a stack of books they'd accumulated over the years on magical creatures.

 

"He's just started healing," Stiles said, pulling out some paper plates and setting them on the bar next to the pizza before dishing up a few slices.

 

"Hey baby, you awake yet?" Kira said, running her fingers through his hair, Scott stirred but did not wake up.  "Ok honey, just rest, you'll be ready soon."

 

"Try kissing the sleeping beauty," Stiles joked as she pulled two pieces of pizza onto her plate, she heard the shower turn on and made sure one of the meat lover pizzas was set aside for Derek.

 

"We are way to comfortable eating around bloody people and handling near death experiences," Lydia said, motioning to Scott only a few feet away with her pizza.  "We probably need some serious therapy."  Stiles and Kira both shrugged as Kira pulled some of her own pizza onto her plate and chowed down.

 

"You're probably right," Kira replied, pulling the top book off the stack.  "Now what was this thing?  Derek sent me a photo but I've never seen this before."

 

"We can rule our serpents and bugs," Lydia said, shifting a few books off the counter to the 'no' pile.  "Which is good, I am never doing giant cockroaches again."  The conversation continued, working through the mess of papers and books in front of them, making sure Scott had his own pizza to eat once he was awake.

 

They were all shocked when a great shout came from the bathroom.  "STILES!!!"  Stiles stood, really confused what could have possibly gone wrong between the kitchen at the bathroom.

 

"What?"  She tried to answer when she realized her mouth was still full.  She rolled her eyes at Lydia and continued her walk across the room.  "Derek?  What's..." She was interrupted by two hundred and twenty pounds of damp alpha wolf wrapping himself around her, whatever happened she was at least glad he'd had the forethought to put on pants.  "Derek?"

 

"Why didn't you tell me Stiles?"  Derek whispered into the skin of her neck.  Stiles pushed against his shoulders and tried to ask him what was going on when he set her down and held three white sticks in front of her.  Stiles froze, and the wheels in her head finally started clicking.  The pregnancy tests had been completely forgotten.  She gasped and grabbed one, looking to see what the window showed.  "All positive Stiles, all three."  Derek choked up while he said it, smiling wider than he did even on their wedding day.

 

"Oh my god!"  Stiles gasped, looking at the other sticks.  "Derek, we're pregnant!  You're a dad."  Derek laughed and picked Stiles up, spinning her around as she joined him.

 

"Uh?  What did I miss?"  Scott asked as the three others gathered in the hallway entrance, the former leaning against the doorframe since he was still weak.

 

"Did I just hear what I think I heard?"  Lydia asked at the same time.

 

Derek's chest puffed out in pride and he held up the capped pregnancy tests.  "I'm going to be a dad."

 

It was probably a good thing they didn't have neighbors with the shout from everyone in the room.  Scott was jumping up and down shouting that he was going to be a god-father, Kira was clapping as hard as she could and practically crying with joy, and Lydia was almost vibrating as she shrieked her joy.  Any hint of exhaustion or tiredness was instantly forgotten as everyone collapsed in on Stiles and Derek for a massive hug.  About five minutes passed before anyone could move from the hallway and then it was the three backing away as Derek just held onto Stiles.  He let his forehead fall against hers and the smile was still on his face, tears building his closed eyelids, happy laughs escaping from him.  Lydia couldn't resist, she grabbed her phone and snapped a photo of the two, quickly sending it to Kira but resisting the urge to upload them.  Research mostly forgotten, Scott took the books and left the couple to their news.  The animal hunting the woods could be handled by others for the night.

 

Left alone, Derek retreated to the couch with Stiles, allowing her to pull him on top of her and snuggle into his throat.  "I love you and I am so fucking happy right now," she breathed, a little bit of a laugh still behind her words.

 

Derek tried to respond, but when he pulled back to look at his wife, the words got stuck in his throat.  Joy filled up every space in his body, there was no room for anything else.  Stiles reached up and slid a thumb over his jaw, cradling it with her slim hand, Derek's hand moved to cover it before he could even think to do it.  He was quickly loosing control of his emotions, they were just to big to hold in, tears built up behind his eyes and spilled over.  Stiles pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around him as he pulled her as close as possible.  "I'm so happy Stiles.  I can't, I don't even have words for how happy I am."  Stiles kissed him gently, trying to convey all of her happiness into a single act.  She knew that Derek had wanted a family, and she was so happy to be able to give him one.  The life she now held inside her was a physical embodiment of their love for each other, there were no words to describe the feelings racing through her.  "How do I tell you how much I love you Stiles?"  She pulled him close and they just held each other on the couch for a long time, before Stiles took Derek back to the bed room so they could try and show just how much they loved each other.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Bonus: Grandpa

 

"Happy birthday!"  Everyone cried as Melissa carried out the cake decorated like a sheriff's star.  Most of them were singing in different keys and The Sheriff was laughing when Kira pulled out her phone to record.  Cheers went around the room when all of the candles were extinguished at the same time.

 

"Old wind bag!"  Stiles cheered happily as he slid the cake over to cut and plate.  "Ice cream or whipped cream there dad?"

 

"Uh, both, it's my birthday," he replied as Melissa slid into the chair next to him.  "I get both on my birthday, no health food today."  Everyone laughed as Stiles cut up generous slices and passed plates around.  Scott and Kira had gotten their step father-in-law a year long subscription to MLB access on their cable network.  Derek passed him his gift of collectable mystery novels by some of his favorite authors, and then Stiles passed him the small square box.

 

"This one's from me," she said, despite the fact she was stating the obvious.

 

"What could this be?"  He joked, despite the fact it was a little obvious the box held a mug.  He tore open the paper and the box to dig out the cup inside.  "Great dad's get promoted to Granddads."  He paused, looking at the mug and then up at his daughter.  "You're not serious?"  Both Stiles and Derek grinned like idiots. "You're pregnant?"  Melissa gasped and clapped her hands to her mouth.  The Sheriff jumped up to the corner of the table to pull Stiles into a deep hug, picking her up off the ground and laughing.  "I'm going to be a grandpa!"

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last note - just because I've gotten a few questions. At some point when I finish this story (if it ever lets me go, I have no idea if it will) I will put all the chapters in chronological order. In the mean time, please let me know what you thought.


	11. Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title says it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set sometime during Stiles' senior year.

* * *

 

Stiles fumbled with the books in her arms as she climbed out of the Jeep.  She and Derek were planning to go into the old woods and track down a creature that was tormenting some of their fall hikers.  He had driven straight over from his loft to meet with The Sheriff so they could go after the creature without any of the deputies getting in danger; Stiles could see him walking through the door as the new deputy let him in.  There were a few people in the receiving area when she pulled the outer door open to enter the room.

 

"Can I help you?"  The deputy asked, looking at the teenager with a raised eyebrow.  "Speeding or parking ticket?"

 

"Wow, um, not really," Stiles said, shocked at the assumption.  "Here to see the Sheriff, I've got some info for him on the hiker case." 

 

“You?”  The woman asked, eying Stiles up and down.  “See the Sheriff??  Nice try kid.  But, I'll page him if you tell me hot leather jacket's name.”  The woman turned and gestured to Derek, who was chatting with her dad in his office.

 

"Who, him?," Stiles asked, pointing towards the door.  When the Deputy turned to look Stiles reached over and pressed the buzz in button from memory.  The woman protested, but Stiles was already hipping the door open.  "Just so you know, I'm the Sheriff's kid and hot leather jacket is my boyfriend Derek. You want to last you might want to stop looking at him like a piece of meat."  Stiles let the door close before the woman could respond, pulling open the second door into the back office designated for The Sheriff.  “Dad, I apologize in advance.”

 

“For what?”  Stilinski asked, looking confused but his voicing dying off.  “Really?”  Stiles had slipped her hand into Derek’s back pocket, giving his ass a firm and possessive squeeze, as she pulled him down into a deep kiss.

 

“Like I said, sorry about that,” Stiles replied, breaking off the kiss and pulling two books out of her side bag.

 

“Uhhhh,” Derek said, his brain slightly fried after the fiery kiss, looking at Stiles and stepping closer to her.  “What was that about?  I thought we agreed no funny business around your dad.”

 

“It was an emergency,” Stiles replied, “Trust me, won’t need to happen again.  I think I found a clue about what’s causing the sick hikers, there’s an old burial ground out that way, probably cursed.  Either that or some type or forrest creature, maybe a hinkypunk.  Give Derek and I a few hours and we’ll get everything sorted out.”

 

“Ok,” Stilinski said, forehead in his hand.  “Now get out, I don’t need to see my consultant kissing my underage daughter.”

 

“Dad, I'm the one who...” Stiles started.

 

“You will not finish that sentence,” Stilinski ordered, pointing towards the door.

 

"We'll see you later Sheriff."  Derek looped one arm around Stiles, the other sweeping up the books.  “What the hell,” he asked when the got out of the door into the main office.  “I mean, not that I’m complaining, but you could have picked somewhere a little less public.”

 

“Don’t flirt with the new girls and I won’t have to mark you as mine,” Stiles smiled, “Now, lets go placate some riled up spirits and get some dinner.”

 

“I was flirting?”  Derek asked, his eyebrows wrinkled as he followed the younger girl.  “I said hi and welcomed her to the county, how is that flirting?” Stiles paused and ran her hands down his leather jacket.

 

“It is adorable you don’t realize how attractive you are,” Stiles said, tapping her finger against his nose.  “Now come on, lets get this ritual done and then I’ll watch you work on your car and you can watch me read.”

 

“You are pretty sexy when you’re in research mode,” Derek agreed, taking the bag and looping it over his shoulder so he could tuck Stiles under his arm again.  “Know where we’re going?”

 

“Yup, and I’m driving, your car won’t get through.”  Stiles affirmed, throwing a stiff glare over her shoulder at the new deputy.  The woman looked aghast as Stiles deliberately stuck her hand back into Derek's pocket with a little possessive growl; which, no matter what Derek laughed, was not cute.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More to come


	12. Baby Book: Photo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First sonogram.

* * *

 

Stiles sighed and rubbed her hand over the light swell of her stomach.  It was just starting to feel tight and every time she did Derek would look at her and smile, usually letting his hand join hers if he wasn't driving.  She couldn't tell if it was the nerves troubling her stomach or some lingering morning sickness.

 

"You're not getting car-sick are you?"  Derek asked, reaching his hand over to take one of Stiels' in his own.  "Need to pull over, find some water?"

 

"No, I'm ok," Stiles replied, sighing again.  "Just nerves I guess."

 

"It's our first sonogram, I'm nervous too.  Hey - ten fingers and toes right?"  Derek smiled, running his thumb over the back of her hand.

 

"I know," Stiles groaned.  "I'm just, I don't want anything to go wrong."

 

"It won't," Derek assured her, kissing the back of her hand.  "This little one is going to be perfectly healthy and be very good at giving us grey hair when he or she starts crawling."

 

"My brain knows, just say that to my nerves," Stiles breathed.  "You ready?"

 

"Yeah," Derek replied, "I'm excited."  He pulled into the parking lot and took off his seat belt.  "We're going to hear our baby's heart beating and it is going to be awesome."

 

"Awesome is my line," Stiles replied, accepting the kiss he pressed against her lips.  "Let's do this."  She took of her seatbelt and let Derek tuck her under his arm, breathing in his scent to let it calm her.  He led her inside and once the standard questions were answered with everything ok, Stiles was hiking her shirt up for the tech.

 

"A little nervous?"  The woman asked warmly, smiling at the new parents.

 

"That easy to tell?"  Derek asked.

 

"First time ones, sure," she replied, "I had one couple the other day, it was their third child, they were still pins and needles till everything was done."  She took some of the gel and spread it over the skin.

 

"Isn't this supposed to be cold?"  Stiles asked.

 

"We have a gel warmer now," the nurse replied, "I guess someone got tired of cold gel on their belly.  It also helps keep people calm.  We use these for so much more these days it's good someone made it.  You'll feel a little bit of pressure."  Stiles felt the wand run over her stomach and held Derek's hand tight in her own.  "Well, you guys ready?  Not much to see right now, but if you want you can hear..."

 

"Yes," Stiles and Derek said at the same time, both blushing when the woman smiled back.

 

"Here you are," she said, turning the screen so they could see.  There were two shining blobs of light against the screen and four fast echoes of whomp-whomp sounding through the room.

 

"Is that...?" Stiles started, her voice dying.  Derek was staring at the screen, transfixed by the image displayed.

 

"Yes, that's two of them," she smiled, the elation of the new parents infectious.  "Congratulations, you're having twins."

 

"Oh my God," Derek whispered, both of his hands going to Stiles' as he stared at the screen. He breath left him in one fell swoop, those two little glowing blobs suddenly overtook everything in his world.  "Stiles, thats..."

 

"Twins," Stiles breathed, smiling widely even as she could hardly believe it.  "Derek, we're having twins."  Her voice broke as she tore her eyes away from the screen to her husband, tears building up hot and heavy behind her eyes.  "Twins!"

 

Derek had thought the love he felt for Stiles on their wedding day could never grow, then they found out they were pregnant and it did, now they were having twins.  It felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest and run around the room.  "We're going to need another stroller on the registry."

 

Stiles laughed and reached over to kiss him, bringing both of her hands to his and not caring that her shirt got in the ultrasound gel.  "You perfect dork, we're going to need two of everything."  Neither Stiles nor Derek remembered the words spoken from then on, barely being able to shuffle back to the car and buckle up.  Static rang through both of their ears on the drive back and shuffling to the kitchen.

 

"This is real, isn't it?"  Derek asked when they were back in the kitchen.  Moving his hand to rest on the swell of Stiles' stomach as he rested his chin on her shoulder.  Stiles' fingers were tracing the two shining blobs of light on the printout from the office.

 

"It's real," Stiles affirmed, fixing the photo to the front of the fridge with one of the magnets there and then let her hand rest over Derek's.  "Double trouble."  There was no worry in Stiles' voice, only joy as she turned to kiss her husband, glowing with happiness.  "We're going to be parents love, parents of twins."

 

Derek hummed into the kiss and gently swept Stiles into his arms, unable to keep his hands off her stomach.  "I love you Stiles," he whispered.

 

* * *

 


	13. Baby Book: Reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles and Derek have a reveal party for their family.

* * *

 

Derek breathed slowly as he put the finishing touches on the second layer of icing around the cake, he wanted to be sure that no one could see through it.  The Sheriff, Melissa, and a few other close friends were in the next room waiting for them to bring out the cake.  Everyone was catching up, Melissa was bugging Scott and Kira when they were thinking of trying for kids.  Derek smiled as his ears picked everything up, Melissa said she wanted more than one grandchild to spoil and little did she know that she was already getting two.  He heard Stiles mingling with everyone, they asked how she was doing and marveled over her growing baby bump.

 

"Seriously Stiles," Melissa said, wrapping the woman in yet another hug, "You popped right out there, I was barely showing with Scott at twenty two weeks."

 

"Well Scott was always kinda the runt wasn't he?"  Stiles joked, accepting the disgruntled squawk Scott threw at her as she took the empty platter around to the kitchen.  "Hey babe, we need more salsa out there, almost ready?  She opened the fridge and started spooning more of the homemade salsa to the bowl and opened another bag of chips.

 

"Just making sure no one can see through the icing," he said when Stiles joined him at the island.  "Think they'll be surprised?"  He reached across and let his hand rest over Stiles' baby bump, lips pressed to her forehead.

 

"Oh yea," Stiles smiled, running her finger over the spare icing on Derek's spatula.  "You ever gonna get tired of that."

 

"Never," Derek promised, pressing another kiss to her lips.

 

"Cheeseball," Stiles accused playfully, "They're begging me about the cake, you have five minutes mister.  Love you."

 

"Love you back," Derek smiled, watching his wife walk back to the other side of the counter to the sun room.  He'd always thought the pregnancy glow was a myth till he saw how beautiful Stiles looked even when she woke up with back and hip aches.  "Tell them I'll be out in a minute."  He grabbed the bag of icing and put a quick edge on the top and bottom of the cake, he and Stiles had decided against any type of external decoration.  The reveal was going to be enough.  He looked out of the open glass doors, the chatter filtering in from the sun filled patio, his family was there waiting for more good news.  There had been years when every phone call had meant a crisis, when they got together it was to plan how they stayed alive.

 

Derek grabbed the cake plate and began carefully walking it out to everyone.  Now they got together to celebrate life and phone calls meant good news.  He did not know how everything bad that happened added up to this, but he was determined to appreciate the life they had made for each other.  "Finally!"  The Sheriff called, taking Derek back from his thoughts to the present.  "I need to know if I'm buying pink or blue, the anticipation is killing me."

 

"I was thinking this whole thing was a ruse to get me to visit more often," Cora complained.  She and Derek still had a bit of a strained relationship, her criticism of him still meant she would never be Stiles' favorite, but at the end of the day she was blood.  If anything happened to Derek and Stiles, she would drop everything to come and get their kids.

 

"Patience is a virtue," Stiles chided her father, joining Derek as everyone circled the table, her father beckoning the cake closer.

 

"Virtue is overrated," He quipped, snatching the knife from amidst the baby-themed decorations.  "Drum roll please."  Everyone thumped their hands rhythmically on the table as he cut into it, Stiles giggling into Derek's shoulder.  He was smiling widely, laughing as his father in law hyped up his second cut to reveal the color of the cake inside.  "Ok, lets see everyone."  He let the cake fall on it's side to the plate Melissa was holding, everyone looked in confusion at the blue layer separated from the pink layer by a thick section of white icing.

 

"Um, Stiles..." Scott asked as everyone stared at the slice.

 

Stiles just smiled, still laughing lightly with Derek's hand on her stomach, and held up two fingers.  Everyone was clapping and cheering.  Derek was getting slaps on the back, Scott calling out 'you old dog.' Melissa was hugging Stiles and patting the baby bump excited about the twins.  Lydia had her camera out and was snapping candids of the family like crazy.  Kira produced confetti from somewhere and the air was filled with both blue and pink streamers.  As everyone celebrated the twins The Sheriff made his way over to Derek and shook his hand, then wrapped the younger man into a hug. "Proud of you son," He said quietly, "I can't wait to meet them."

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adorbs for all! My challenge to myself is to get a bunch of Baby Book chapters done by the time the cast is off. Hope everyone enjoys the fluff.


	14. Baby Book: Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's the big day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ended up being longer than I thought - Derek's feels snuck in and ran the show for a bit. :P

* * *

  

"Derek," Stiles cried, waking him up out of a dead sleep.

 

"What?  What?  What is it?  You ok?"  Derek asked, trying to wake up faster.  "I'm up."

 

"Water broke, get the bag, I'm gonna go get changed," Stiles said, lurching out of the bed with one hand supporting her stomach.  "Had to be one in the morning huh?"  Derek was frozen to his spot on the bed, only his eyes following Stiles as she slowly moved toward the closet.  "Derek, you should probably get some pants on."

 

"Yeah, pants," Derek said, blinking once and moving towards the dresser, still trying to wake up.  He was half way pulling them on when everything started to click, so he somehow managed to fall flat on his face.  "Babies are coming."

 

"Derek?  You ok?"  Stiles called, pulling a loose comfortable top over her yoga pants.  "You're on the floor, what happened?"

 

"I fell over, and the babies are coming," Derek said, clumsily standing and doing up his jeans.

 

"Yes," Stiles replied, sitting on the bed as Derek hastily pulled on the first tee shirt out of the dresser and knelt to help Stiles slip on her shoes.  "Make sure you breathe honey.  We have some time."

 

"My brain knows that, tell it to my nerves," Derek replied, it had become their code whenever one of them was to nervous to handle it by themselves.

 

"Hands," Stiles commanded as Derek helped her to her feet, "Ten fingers and ten toes, times two.  Starting soon enough if we don't grab that bag and get to the hospital.  You get your shirt on, I'll text dad and Melissa so they can meet us there."  Derek nodded and grabbed the baby bag out of the closet, holding her hand down the stairs and onto the car.  They were barely at the end of the drive when Stiles groaned and set her hand against the side of her stomach.  "Just a contraction, no need to panic."

 

"I'm not panicking," Derek replied.

 

"You get any paler and I'm going to drive," Stiles replied, relaxing after a few more seconds.  She pulled out her phone and hit something on the screen.  "Timing the contractions.  Melissa said to call her if they get to ten minutes apart before we're at the hospital."  Derek nodded and noticed his knuckles were white as they gripped the steering wheel.  "I don't know what you have to be nervous about, you're not the one that has to pop out two kids.  Your job is to stand next to me, hold my hand, and not pass out."

 

"We'll see about that last part," Derek said, moving through the turns that took them both to BCH.  Stiles phone went off and she slid to put in on speaker between them.  "Hi Dad."

 

"Hey Derek," The Sheriff greeted, obviously also on speaker and moving around.  "Stiles, how you doing there?"

 

"All right so far," Stiles replied.

 

"Ask her how far apart her contractions are!"  Melissa called, probably from the bathroom.

 

"Still over twenty minutes apart," Stiles replied with a smile on her face, they sounded just as nervous as she and Derek did.  "But from what you said that could speed up pretty quick."

 

"Usually does with twins," Melissa replied, her voice getting louder as she got closer.  "We'll see you at the hospital ok?"

 

"See you soon," Stiles assures them both before ending the call.  It was another few minutes before another contraction moved through her body.  "We're at nineteen minutes, 40 seconds now."

 

"The good news is you're not having the baby in the car," Derek smiled, "I was almost born right on the side of this route."  Stiles raised an eyebrow and relaxed, breathing deeply as her muscles were strained in new ways.  "Yeah, mom thought she had more time than she did.  My entire labor lasted about ninety minutes, she used to joke I was born moving fast."

 

Stiles reached over and took Derek's hand.  "Dad never mentioned much about my labor, all he ever said is he fired up the squad car to get there and ended up waiting six hours for me to make an appearance."  Derek smiled, still keeping his eyes on the road, they weren't far from the hospital and there was always some traffic from people coming in and out of the area.  They were halfway to the door when Stiles had to stop, it had only been seventeen minutes since her last contraction.  "This might be speeding up faster than we thought, that one was two minutes faster."

 

"Lets get you inside honey," Derek comforted, running his warm hands over her back.  Melissa was waiting for them right inside the doors, Sheriff was there too with another bag.

 

"How you doing baby girl?"  He asked, running his hand over her shoulder as Melissa helped her into the wheelchair.

 

"Ask me again in an hour," Stiles smiled as Melissa began to wheel her up to Maternity, the other two following.  "Or better yet, wait till they're out.  Then ask me."  They were wheeled up to one of the private rooms and The Sheriff was ushered out while Derek and Melissa helped Stiles settle into the bed and strap a few simple monitors to her.  Stiles was still uncomfortable around hospitals so she had opted for as little medications and machines as possible.

 

"You still sure about not getting the pain killers?"  Melissa asked, draping the blanket over Stiles' lap.  "You're only at four centimeters, we still have some time."

 

"I don't want anything messing with my head," Stiles replied, Derek took her hand and rubbed his fingers over the back of hers.  He could tell that she was still thinking back to the time her mind and body hadn't been her own.  It didn't matter how much time passed for a few things, they never really moved past it.  Nogitsune was Stiles' issue, she didn't even like taking anything over the counter that made her drowsy. She groaned through another contraction, the time it had taken to process her into the system and get her prepped meant her contractions were down to fifteen minutes apart.

 

"You're moving along relatively quickly," Melissa said, turning down the volume on the fetal heart rate monitor.  "Chances were you started labor shortly after you went to sleep.  We've entered the waiting game now, let me know if things really start speeding up otherwise I'll be back to check on you in thirty minutes, unless you want me to stay?"

 

"No, go call Scott and everyone, let them know what's going on," Stiles said, settling back against the pillows with a sigh.  "He'll kill us if he didn't know."  Melissa nodded and went outside to let The Sheriff in.  Now it was just her, Derek and her father in the room with the tiny hum from two monitored fetal heartbeats.

 

"Hey there," he said, sitting in the chair next to his daughter's bed.  Derek had climbed up so he was half perched on the bed next to her, ready to get whatever she needed over the next few hours.  When he looked up again he saw a strange look in he Sheriff's eyes.  "Stiles...I know you don't like me to think about the past, but were you thinking about this when you made your choice?"

 

Stiles was quiet for a noticeable time before she answered.  "Yes, this was part of it.  There were other reasons but yes, once I made up my mind to stay a woman I knew I wanted kids of my own."  She reached up and took Derek's hand in her own.  "I wanted to have a family with you Derek."  Derek smiled and wrapped her in a half hug, pressing his lips to her forehead in another wordless thank you.  He woke up every day resolved to be worthy of Stiles' promise to him.  "You thinking how this would have been different?"

 

"No, you would have used a surrogate and still ended up with twins," The Sheriff replied, then laughed, "Actually, with our luck, you'd have found a whole mess of orphaned werewolf babies in the middle of the woods or something and smothered them with love."

 

Derek and Stiles laughed before the former replied, "Well, sounds like something that would have happened to us.  With our luck."

 

"Still means a lot you're ok with this," Stiles said, rubbing her thumb over Derek's hand, the room was still again after the conversation.  "Well, last day as not a grandpa, any words of wisdom?"

 

"Babies come with hats?"  The Sheriff shrugged.  "And get ready for the longest emotional rollercoaster you've ever been on."  Derek and Stiles both laughed, their father hated roller coasters.  "So this is the waiting game part of this.  Any channel you want on the tv?"

 

"There a ball game or anything on at 2am?"  Stiles asked.  Derek and the Sheriff shared a chuckle and they channel surfed before finally settling on a classic movie channel.  It was some old Cary Grant movie that had everyone chuckling, it was the waiting game part.  Stiles' contractions seemed to be holding at fifteen minutes and stayed there for the next hour and a half.  During her last checkup Melissa let her father back in the room and Stiles was breathing through her last contraction.  "Ok, we've been at 6cm and fifteen minute contractions for the past hour, when is this party going to get started?"

 

"We're going to give it another hour before we look at options," Melissa said, rubbing her hand over Stiles' back.  "You're still sure about no meds?"

 

"I'm sure," Stiles replies, leaning back against the pillows again.  "Not unless there's no other options.  What point do we start to worry?"  Derek took her hand and held it gently.

 

"The babies are fine, we're only going to worry if you don't progress any further," Melissa said, "If you want you could get up an move around for a bit.  Some women say that helps.  Scott and Kira outside in the waiting room."

 

"Maybe," Stiles sighed, "Thanks again, if you want go ahead and send them in, Scott's gonna flip out if he doesn't see me."  Melissa nodded and sent Scott in, he fussed over her for a bit while Kira watched in amusement and then they were quietly chatting and watching the movie. All of a sudden another contraction wracked through her system three minutes early.  She had been up and walking slowly around the room when it hit and she practically crumpled into Derek's arms.

 

"Stiles," he cried, linking one hand under her legs and moving her gently back to the bed, veins already turning black to absorb her pain.  She panted as the pain was taken and Derek hit the call button for Melissa.  "You all right?"

 

"That was a big one, took me by surprise," Stiles gasped, "I'm ok."

 

"Guys," Melissa said, nodded to The Sheriff, Kira, and Scott so they could exit.  "Ok Stiles, another contraction or something else?"

 

"Big contraction," she breathed, "Took me by surprise between steps."

 

"Well, you've dilated up to eight centimeters," Melissa said, "We might be moving quickly now, want me to stay?"

 

"Can you?" Stiles asked, her hand on her stomach and face looking truly pained for the first time that night.  She must have been putting on a brave face for the rest of it, or the pain had just been manageable enough to handle, now there was a hint of fear in her features.  "I think they just decided they were tired of waiting."  Stiles breathed deeply and the contractions continued to come a few seconds earlier each minute.  It wasn't like TV, there was no screaming, no threats against Derek, no mess of nurses and doctors swarming over her.  The room itself was relatively silent, once Melissa saw Stiles was dialed and the babies had started to drop a second nurse was called in to assist with the delivery, but the whole ordeal was very quiet.

 

"You're doing great Stiles," Derek said, kissing her forehead and his veins almost permanently black as he took the edge off her pain, shirt sleeves down to avoid questions from the second nurse.  "Almost there, then we get to meet our kids."  Stiles gave an exhausted smile in response and pressed her lips to his hand.

 

"Get ready to push Stiles," Melissa said, "Do you feel like you need to move or anything before we start?"  Stiles shook her head in response and Derek shifted to support her back as she was only half laying back now.  "With your next contraction I want you to push with it, keep breathing and trust your body all right?  It knows what to do."  Stiles felt the tightening begin in her muscles within a minute and took several deep breaths before the muscles contracted painfully once more.  Time froze for Stiles, an endless cycle of breathing and working with her body as it struggled to bring the lives inside her to the world.  "Almost there Stiles, baby one is in the birth canal and I can see the head.  Just a few more honey, you can do it."

 

Derek watched in wonder as their firstborn child entered the world with a fairly impressive set of lungs.  Stiles fell back against him, tears of joy running down her face as they both looked at the pink, wrinkly baby.  It wasn't till Stiles reached up and brushed her fingers under his eyes that Derek even knew he was crying.  Stiles nodded for Derek to put the pillows behind her as the child was taken to be cleaned up.  By the time he was done settling his wife the nurse was back with a little white bundle topped off by a blue hat.  "Congratulations, it's a boy," the man said, transferring the small bundle into Derek's arms.

 

The rest of the world went a little bit fuzzy, one arm supporting his son's tiny body as his second hand supported the head.  All he could do was stare, look at every tiny little movement the baby made, then the baby opened his eyes with the usual grey blue most babies had.  Derek forgot how to breath as his son wiggled around a little bit until he was comfortable again and then just looked up at him.  "Hi William," he breathed, looking over at Stiles as the rest of the world came into focus again.  "Stiles...it's William."  He shifted so he was half perched next to her on the bed, their son between them.  Derek's face was starting to hurt from smiling so widely.

 

"My God," Stiles breathed out, reaching her hand out to touch his face, "He's beautiful Derek."  Stiles did not have much more time to admire her little boy, as it seemed his sister didn't want to be left out of the fun.  Derek handed William back to the nurse to be put in the bassinet so he could hold Stiles' hand through the second delivery.  After waiting a few hours for the first, their daughter's birth seemed to go very quickly and then Melissa was setting the second pink, wriggly infant on Stiles' chest for her to hold.  There were more tears as Stiles reached out and touched the wailing baby's face.  "Eleanor."

 

"Great job Stiles," Melissa comforted as she continued to work on her, the two new parents barely noticed the stitching or anything else that was going on.  Eleanor was handed over so she could be cleaned and wrapped up, Stiles was changed into a clean hospital gown.  The second nurse brought William over and Derek gently handed their son to her, he was sure a bomb could have gone off outside and the woman would not have noticed.  She was just staring at the little body in her arms as it cooed and began to try to move his arms, still smiling widely with happy tears rolling down her face.

 

Derek was about to say something when the nurse returned and handed him the second tiny bindle topped off with a pink hat.  His world went fuzzy again, looking at the already open blue grey eyes of his daughter as she looked back up at him.  She fussed against the blanket swaddling her so he loosened it up and little, her hand caught against his finger and held it fast in her weak grip.  Derek couldn't have broken free from it if he wanted to.  "Hi Ellie.  I'm your dad."  He didn't even realize there were still tears running down his face.

 

"Ellie?"  Melissa asked, surprising Derek as he looked at his mother-in-law, the apron removed leaving her in clean scrubs.  "Eleanor's a good name."

 

"Eleanor Rose," Derek continued, "And, uh, William Thomas.  That'll be they're full names."

 

"They're looking great Derek," Melissa said, looking at the two new parents.  "Can I let everyone back now?  You're dad's chomping at the bit."

 

Stiles laughed and nodded, looking over at Ellie holding Derek's finger.  "Someone better get a picture of that," she smiled, starting to look tired.  "You holding a baby, I can get used to looking at that."

 

"I can't stop looking at her," Derek said, "She's got your nose."

 

"Looks like William got your chin," Stiles replied, looking down at her son, "Which is good, I like your chin."  Derek was able to tear his eyes away from Ellie to look at Stiles holding William.  That image of her holding their newborn son was going to be etched into his memory with the rest of the early morning.

 

There was a quiet knock at the door and then Scott was standing in the doorway with two giant handfuls of pink and blue balloons.  "My God-kids here?  Do I finally get to know the names?"

 

"William Thomas and Eleanor Rose," Stiles said proudly, even as it was clear her eyes were starting to droop.

 

"They're beautiful," Kira said, looking at them in adoration.

 

"No way me first," the Sheriff said just as softly, blowing past the other two adults.  "Hand him over Stiles, I want to meet my grandson."  Stiles laughed as her dad perched on the bed next to her and held out his arms for the infant, Stiles smiled and delicately held out William.  He fussed at getting moved around but The Sheriff expertly settled him against his chest, his little nose nuzzling against the older man's neck.  "Hey there big guy.  You give your mom a bit of trouble?  Couldn't have waited till a more reasonable hour to make an appearance huh?  Yeah, you two are going to give your parents just as much grey hair as they gave me."

 

"You are way to happy about that," Stiles said, stifling a yawn and cuddling into the mound of pillows behind her.

 

"I want to hold him," Scott protested quietly.

 

"Hold Ellie," the Sheriff replied, way to content letting his grandson rest against him.

 

One look from Derek told Scott that anyone else holding his daughter wasn't on the list of things happening any time soon, not while her little hand was wrapped around his finger.  "Wow, she's less than an hour old and already got her wrapped around her fingers," Scott smiled, no malice in his voice.  "You are so in trouble once she learns to work the puppy eyes."

 

"He's already in trouble," Kira smiled, sitting down next to Derek and looking at Ellie.  "And so are you Scott, there's no way you're saying no to those baby blues, especially if they stay that way."  Eventually Derek relented and let Scott hold Ellie, watching the other Alpha as he cooed along with the baby.

 

"Yup, I'm in trouble," Scott acknowledged after holding her for ninety seconds, looking up at Derek.  "We can agree she's never dating."

 

"Yeah," Derek nodded.  The twins were passed around, Stiles fell asleep in the middle of everyone, and the nurses took the babies back for their first change and another feeding.  Stiles had decided to get a few good hours of sleep before they were discharged, Derek had followed them wherever they went and just stared at them.   Outside in observation there were a few people watching the pile of newborns in their bassinets, most were proud fathers and family members pointing at their newest additions.  The Sheriff joined him there and set a hand on the younger man's shoulder.  "I can't stop looking at them."

 

"Not much reason to," Stilinski responded.  "You did good Derek."

 

"How am I ever going to do this?"  Derek asked, staring at the two new lives he was responsible for.

 

"I still ask myself that so I can't tell you," The Sheriff said.  "Like I said, emotional rollercoaster.  Just wait till they skin a knee, you're gonna feel like the world's ending."

 

"Is it to early to wrap them in bubble wrap?"  Derek asked, half a smile on his face.  "How the hell could something so perfect happen to someone like me."

 

"There's a reason they call it the miracle of life son," Stilinski continued.  "I can't tell you not to worry, but I know that's not going to work.  All I know is that you love them more than you love yourself and that means that you can't fail them."  Derek didn't know how to respond to that so he chose not to, the older man seemed to understand and stood with him a while more until Melissa said she was ready to head back home.  The sun had risen and the rest of the group had to get back to their work lives but promised to come an visit as soon as everyone was feeling up to it.  The twins were rolled back into Stiles' room was they had been changed and fed again, they were just laying there and staring at everything around them, Derek was just staring at them.

 

"You blinked since they breathed?"  Stiles asked quietly, lifting the back of her bed so she could see.

 

"Doubt it," Derek replied.

 

"Wheel them over and come here," Stiles said, scooting to one side so Derek could climb behind her and still see their kids.  Derek wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her temple.  "Well, we just double the size of our family.  I love you big guy."

 

"Love you back," Derek smiled, pulling her as close as he dared.  He reached over to the baby bag and pulled out the delicately wrapped parcel that had come in the mail.  He had spent the first half of Stiles' pregnancy designing and commissioning Stiles' gift when she became the mother of his children.  The double strand of pearls was to celebrate the birth of their firstborn, twin rows of delicate Alexandrite gems set in between the Mikimoto pearls.  Stiles had never seen anything so beautiful and broke into happy tears all over again.   "Thank you Stiles, I didn't think I'd ever have this again."  Stiles reached up and pressed a kiss to Derek's lips.  The moment was short lived though since William started crying, which caused Eleanor to start crying in response.  Both new parents smiled and each other and reached for a child to see what they needed.

 

* * *

 


	15. Baby Book: First Night Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title says it all.

* * *

 

 

Derek had the hazards on and was wishing that The Sheriff had offered to escort them home.  Stiles was sitting in the middle of the back seat, one hand on each of the triple-checked upon installation child seats.  There wasn't much traffic, but Derek was still letting everyone pass him and gently swerved around every pothole on The Preserve road.  "Any chance your dad would let me repave the road?"  Derek asked.

 

"He probably wouldn't notice, we're the only ones that drive it," Stiles said, adjusting Ellie's blanket so it covered her hands.  "Is it to cold in the car or to hot?  Ellie won't keep her blanket on."  She was amazed the little hands could generate enough force to move the blanket.

 

"I think that means she's hot," Derek said, wanting to turn around and check but not willing to take his eyes off the road.  "Do you think we should take her blanket off?"

 

"I don't know," Stiles fussed, checking on William who was sleeping soundly in his carseat.  "This is the worst.  What if she's to hot or to cold how do I know?  Will she start crying?"

 

"She'll start crying," Derek said calmly, "I think.  That's what happens when something isn't right.  My memory serves right all babies to is cry, sleep, and poop so there we go right?"

 

"Why am I getting nerves now?"  Stiles asked.  "I was ok like 90% of the time with only 10% nerves this whole time and now I'm a wreck?  Sup with this?"

 

"Karma for nerves when I had to watch you give birth?"  Derek asked.  "Ellie and William didn't like being swaddled at the hospital, maybe they don't like being cooped up?"

 

"They have ten finger and ten toes, I can figure everything else out," Stiles breathed, looking between her kids.  The drive over occasionally bumpy roads continued to be stressful for the two new parents, but then they were outside the home Derek had built for the two of them and ready to head inside.  The babies were just over twenty four hours old, and this is where they were going to spend the next eighteen years of their lives.  It was hard to believe nine months had already passed since Stiles had discovered her pregnancy to them on the outside and in the world.

 

Each of them took a carrier to the door, both twins still sleeping as the carriers rocked.  Dusk was setting, they would be up soon for their evening feeding.  There was a note on the counter, Melissa had stopped by at some point and left a casserole in the fridge for them to heat up. They smiled and set the carriers on the counter, they were only still for a moment before starting to fuss.  Derek unbuckles Will from the carrier and lifted him up to rest against his chest.  Will snuffled a little and settled again, his little hand resting just over Derek's heart.  "How'd we do this?"  He asked.

 

"Still don't know," Stiles breathed, Ellie cuddled against her chest.  "You and I are two broken and screwed up people and somehow we found two little perfect people.  How about we set them down for an hour or so till they're hungry and we get some food.  I'm getting hungry."  Stiles didn't really want to set her daughter down, but she needed to grab some food.  They moved a large crib to the first floor to hold them when they weren't upstairs.  Derek was tempted to open of the special bottles of wine - but chose against it since Stiles was still nursing.  It could wait.  Stiles turned on the oven and Derek pulled out some vegetables for a quick salad.  They switched so Derek could lift the pan into the oven for her while she cut the vegetables.  It was the same as it had been from the day before, except the two lives Stiles had been protecting were now moving in their crib.  Nothing about the movement of preparing dinner were any different, but now they were parents.  "I should change them before they eat, then when we set them down for the night."

 

"Sounds good," Derek replied, pulling out the salad dressing and some bread rolls.  They communed making dinner and Derek's head shot up, he moved quickly but quietly over to the crib.

 

"Everything ok?"  Stiles asked.

 

"There was a hitch in his breath," Derek said quietly.  "I think it's gone now."  Will fussed a little, gave half a cough, then continued to sleep peacefully.  Stiles set the salad bowl on the table and went over to wrap her arms around Derek.  "It was there."

 

"I know baby," Stiles said, running her hands over his stomach.  "They're still figuring out how to breath, we were bad at it too once  Just like walking and talking.  They're going to figure it out, ready to eat some food?"  Derek nodded and joined her back at the table, the casserole only a minute or two from getting reheated.  They were mostly through the meal when the fussing started, little arms wriggling against the blankets.

 

"I'll get the changing, you finish eating," Derek offered, knowing Stiles would be to tired to clean up after the feeding.  Ellie looked to be closer to full on crying so he picked her up first and took her over to the changing table they'd installed in the nook next to the laundry room.  It was pretty clear she was ready for food and not the cold air conditioner or baby wipes.  Stiles was glad Derek was willing to take them so willingly, she knew he didn't like it especially because of the smell.  Thankfully they weren't pooping to much yet but he knew from babysitting his cousins that was going to change very quickly.  Derek threw the dirty diaper away and was speaking soft nonsense to the huffy baby, already showing Stiles' personality at getting denied food.  "Yup baby girl, I know, trust me you are going to feel so much better going to sleep with a nice full belly and a clean diaper.  You wouldn't want me doing this after you eat right?  You want to sleep so you can start growing on me."

 

"Trade ya?"  Stiles asked, a hiccuping Will in her arms as Derek finished snapping up Ellie's onesie.  "Take this stinky mister."  Derek smiled as Stiles took their daughter back to the kitchen and began to nurse her.  It was only a few minutes before Stiles traded for Will and Derek burped Ellie.  She was so small his hand covered almost her entire back while he gently tapped her when they walked around kitchen.  It took a minute before she burped and then cuddled into him.  "Already daddy's girl huh?"

 

"Yeah," Derek said quietly, still rubbing slowly up and down her back.  "He looks like he's going to be a good eater.  Takes after you I guess."  Stiles smiled up at Derek and he saw her eyes begin to droop a little, finally getting what Melissa had said about breast feeding burning all those calories.  They stayed quiet as Will finished up and then Stiles burped him.  "Time to put these guys down for the next few hours."

 

"You too," Derek said, helping Stiles stand with Will in her arms as they went upstairs to the nursery.  There were two white cribs waiting, draped with blue and pink blankets for the two to rest in.  They were already pretty sleepy with full stomachs so they only fussed for a minute or to before settling in, Will had accepted the swaddle but Ellie still fought against it so she was just sleeping with a light blanket.  Derek was memorizing every aspect of the day from the little pattern on Ellie's blanket to the way Will's hat was askew from moving his head around to get comfortable.  "Have I mentioned they're perfect and I can't believe how much I love them?"

 

"I was worried about that, how I'd feel about having kids," Stiles confessed, gently running a hand over Will's hat.  "But ah, I don't want to go to bed 'cause I'd have to stop looking at them.  I always want them to know how much I love them.  Did I mention I love you too, eh there dad?"

 

"Love you back mama," Derek said quietly, wrapping his arms around her so she could lean against him.  "I don't know what to say Stiles, I still don't have words for it."

 

"Neither do I," Stiles replied, pressing a very tired kiss to his lips.

 

Derek smiled and hooked one arm gently under her legs.  "Better get you to bed before you fall asleep standing up, you've had a pretty big two days."  Stiles mumbled into his neck and nuzzled him playfully.  "My mom said sleeping with your children was the best thing you can do starting out, I'll be up as soon as the kitchen is done."  Stiles nodded and let him pull the covers over her, already drowsy.  Derek smiled back as his children and reluctantly tore himself away to go clean up the kitchen.  There weren't many dishes, something he also knew would be changing soon, and he smiled stupidly when he saw the baby spoons resting in the drawer just waiting till the twins were old enough to use them.  Then he was climbing the stair again, Stiles and the children all breathing steadily and sound asleep.  At least for the moment.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because more feels - right?


	16. Baby Book: First Word

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Do I need these for the fluffy baby book chapters?

* * *

 

"Ok pups," Derek said, grabbing the two bowls from the high chair trays.  "Give us one minute and I'll get you down for tummy time."  Derek could hardly believe his little ones were six months old.  So far they had mastered rolling over and scooching across the floor, Will was just starting to understand that after sitting up came standing.  Derek was just scraping out the bowls when his thoughts were interrupted.

 

"Dada!"  A little voice cried.  Derek froze and leaned back around the corner, the twins were kicking and playing in their high chairs like they normally were these days.  He leaned back around the corner and set the two bowls in the dishwasher.  "Dada!"  Derek closed the dishwasher and walked back to the kitchen table where both children were giggling happily.  Derek looked from Will to Ellie, trying to figure out which of their children had spoken or if he was going crazy and imagining things.  "Dada," Ellie said proudly, pointing across the room while Will giggled and rocked in his high chair.

 

"Stiles," Derek called, feeling bad to have interrupted her afternoon off, he tried to give her one a week.  "Babe, you're going to want to see this!"  He could hear Stiles grumbling as she came down the stairs, already in her lounge pants and looking ready for a nap. "Trust me, just, stand right here."  Stiles was waiting patiently while Derek went back around the corner.

 

"Dada!"  Ellie called again, this time sounding less than happy about not getting any attention.  "Dadadadadadad."

 

"Did she just say her first word?" Stiles gasped.

 

"I'm here I'm here," Derek reassured his daughter, lifting her out of the high chair.

 

"She just said dada," Stiles said joyfully, lifting Will out of his own highchair so they could all walk into the living room.  Ellie just smiled and patted her little hands against Derek's own, overjoyed at the response to her new word.

 

"Ok big guy, your first word better be mama," Stiles said kindly to William as Derek set Ellie down on the ground and began to play with her fondly.  "Thanks for getting me babe."  She set William on the ground and began to smother Eleanor with kisses.  "And I am so proud of you baby girl, my smart huge baby girl."  Ellie shrieked in joy and laughed brightly, her little hands clapping.  "You got them?"

 

"Yeah mama, go take a nap," Derek replied, "I'll join you once these guys get tuckered out and laid down.  Love you."

 

"Love you back," Stiles replied, kissing her husband gently and walking up the stairs.  Derek smiled and started playing with them until Ellie, exhausted from using her new word, started to droop and Will was slowing down too from building blocks just to knock them down and build something else over and over again.  Then it was time to change into soft new onesies and into the cribs in the nursery just off the master bedroom.

  

"They're down," Derek said, crawling into bed behind Stiles and wrapping her up in his arms, she could feel the smile against her neck.  "I think Ellie's teaching Will to say 'dada' too."

 

"Mmm," Stiles replied, snuggling closer back against him with a smile, starting to wake a little from her doze.  "Hey, we liked 'Shiloh' for a boy or a girl right?"

 

Derek gave out a noise half way between a laugh and a groan.  "Think we can let the twins walk before we start naming the next kid?"

 

"Sorry stud, we need to get the name picked in about seven and a half months," Stiles replied, still half asleep.

 

Derek blinked and leaned up on his arm.  "Huh?"

 

"You knocked me up again stud, got the test results back this afternoon," Stiles said, rolling to her back and running her hand over the back of his arm.  Stiles opened her eyes and giggled at Dereks gobsmacked face.  "Derek, what's with the face."

 

"We've had sex, maybe a handful of times since the kids were born," Derek replied, his jaw still hanging open.  "And those were just quickies!"  It was true, between Derek working and the twins sex had taken a bit of the back burner.

 

At this point Stiles was full on laughing, she ran her hand from his arm down to his boxes and patted the fabric just over his dick.  "Well, good job big guy."

 

"Stiles!"  Derek admonished, rolling over and pinning her hands over her head as the mood quickly turned teasing.  "You are misbehaving."

 

"What are you going to do about that?"  Stiles asked, reaching up to press a kiss into his neck.  Derek growled and checked the clock, they had a little bit of time before the twins woke up again, and practically attacked Stiles' pajamas to get them off her.  A little over ten minuets later they were panting against each other and her skin was pressed deliciously against his own.

 

"So, Shiloh," Derek panted, running his hand over her back and the other over her hair.  "I like it."  Stiles smiled into his neck and kept running her fingers over his chest. 

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, we're getting to the end of the baby book series and back to the regular plot where things go straight to hell in a hand bag.


	17. Baby Book: First Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will's turn to be awesome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You get fluff, and you get fluff, everyone gets fluff!

* * *

 

"No you don't," Derek said, scooping Will up as he crawled his way for the baby gate separating the kitchen from the main part of the house.  His son shirked and giggled as Derek tickled his stomach.  "What are you trying to do?  You trying to go after mom when she went in the other room?  Crazy little boy, you're smart enough to get through that gate aren't you?  Come on, you've got blocks and Ellie in here to play with.  See, blocks."  Derek sat down and reached for the blocks as Ellie giggled to turn them over.

 

"Dada, bloc," Will said, waving his little arms and distracted from the outside world.

 

"Blo," Ellie agreed, grabbing one of them and waving it, consonants were still a bit of an issue for her but she was getting better at them every day.

 

"Hey." Stiles greeted, entering the kitchen again with the groceries from the other fridge.  "Are there two crazy people in here playing with blocks?  What are you guys building?"

 

"I don't really know," Derek replied as Ellie and Will continued to add randomly to the unevenly stacked tower.  "But they're building it like crazy."

 

"Mama!"  Ellie said proudly, slapping her hands against the floor and then stacking another block on the tower.

 

"Mama," Will echoed, crawling over to her and pulling himself up by her leg.

 

"You're standing again, good job," Stiles said, patting the top of his head while she continued putting food together.  "They're just moving so quickly aren't they."

 

"I can't believe it," Derek said, turning and smiling at his son.  Ellie accidentally knocked down the tower and started crying in response when the little blocks fell around her.  "Oh, baby, it's ok."

 

"El," Will said in distress, leaving the safety of Stiles' leg and taking six wobbly steps across the floor before he fell on his butt and crawled the rest of the way to his twin.

 

"Did that just happen?"  Derek asked, patting Ellie gently on the back and staring in wonder at his son.  Will reached out an patted his little hand against Ellie's face and babbled in their own special language they seem to have developed.

 

"No fair, I didn't even have my phone out to record that,"  Stiles replied, "That was the cutest thing ever!"

 

"You're ok baby girl, see, everything is all right.  Good job big guy, coming to comfort your sister," Derek praised as Ellie stopped sniffling and laughed lightly at her brothers antics.  Will babbled back and Ellie giggled at whatever he said, babbling in response.  "Think we're ever gonna know what they're saying?"

 

"Doubt it, but I'm ordering drop cameras for the whole house, I'm not missing the opportunity to see that again," Stiles said, joining the other three in a crouch on the floor.  One hand gently running of Ellie's head to comfort her and dropping a kiss on Will's head.  "My brave boy.  I can't believe he walked!"

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, they're walking and talking now, maybe one more in the baby book series and we're back to our scheduled programming.


	18. First Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last of the baby book series, hope everyone enjoyed it.

* * *

 

Derek smiled up at Stiles as he finished decorating the second of their small cakes, each with a giant 1 candle ready to be placed on top.  Stiles sidled over next to him and smiled, as he straightened his hand drifted back to the now visible swell of her stomach.  Only carrying one meant that she wasn't as large and in truth Stiles was glad not to have to go through back to back summers pregnant with multiples.  This time around they'd decided against choosing the gender of the baby, since they had almost everything they needed they would be fine regardless if this next one was a boy or a girl.

 

"Need any help in here?"  Kira asked, her hand over her own baby bump, she was much further along but bearing the summer heat well.

 

"As if they would let us lift anything," Stiles smiled, reaching for one of the cakes when Scott appeared out of no where to take it from the counter.  "See, I think it's the Alpha thing?"

 

"You're ready to pop," Scott replied, fondly running his hand over her arm.  "I want little baby girl to cook for as long as she can, even if it's just another three weeks."

 

"You don't have swollen feet and hands," Kira replied.  "Everyone's waiting, is the cake almost ready?"

 

"We'll be right there," Derek replied, handing Kira his phone, "Think you could do me a favor and grab some video?"  Kira smiled as she and Stiles went back into the main room, the twins smiling and clapping in their high chairs for their grandparents.

 

"You going to let Scott name her Nausicaa?"  Stiles asked.

 

"I like the name too," Kira smiled, they had been wondering about names for a while and Scott's long shot had turned into the front runner.  "Besides, if I want someone our daughter to emulate there's worse namesakes.  The middle name is up in the air right now, I was thinking about naming her after Allison, but I could tell he wouldn't like that.  I was actually going to ask you first, what do you think of the name Nausicaa Talia McCall?"

 

"I think Derek would be honored," Stiles replied, "You should ask him after the party.  This little one still doesn't have a middle name.  Right now everything is ten fingers and ten toes."

 

"What we all hope for, Scott's not saying anything but he's nervous as hell," Kira smiled back, not caring that they could hear her from the kitchen.  "It's kinda cute though."

 

"Derek was a wreck when I went into labor," Stiles replied, "Melissa said the men don't handle things like this well because they can't punch or growl their way out of it."

 

"He's already looking at shotguns," Kira laughed, "Has been since we found out she was a girl."

 

"Best investment a father can make," The Sheriff sing-songed, playing with Ellie's feet to make her giggle.

 

"I don't know, the katana and throwing star combo from Kira's dad brought Scott home pretty rattled," Melissa laughed.

 

"Dad told me that was a joke!"  Kira cried.  "Scott, did my dad really threaten you with a katana?"

 

"It was a Friday, your dad cleans his weapons on Fridays," Scott replied mechanically as they carried in the two cakes, "Ready to get this thing started?"  He started singing 'Happy Birthday' to divert the conversation, everyone joined in as Kira began recording.  The two children, still a little unaware of the whole birthday thing, babbled along with everyone else adorably.  Stiles laughed as her father tried to show them how to blow out the candle and got a raspberry in response.  Derek smiled and helped them both blow out their candles, then it was time for presents.  Neither pup had trouble demolishing the wrapping paper, thought were much more fascinated with the boxes than the toys that came in them.

 

"Figures," Stiles smiled as Will pulled a box over his head with a giggle.  "They get that from me."

 

"Yup," Derek replied, earning a playful smack from his wife.  "I was agreeing with you!"  She smiled and leaned against his shoulder, Derek reached up and wrapped an arm around her.  "Fast year."  He pressed a kiss to her hairline as she nodded, the streaming rays of the sun filtering onto the patio of Hale House; alive and filled with the sound of laughter once more.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was cute. Back to Stiles as a teenager adjusting to being a girl along with the rest of their adventures.


	19. Chess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the summer after Stiles' choice, and something they thought was gone is back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italic text is a little someone we're all familiar with

* * *

  

 _Stiles._ The voice echoed.   _Pretty little Stiles._

 

Stiles knew that voice, her blood ran cold and she was suddenly alone.  "You're gone."

 

 _I didn't leave you, I would never leave you._  The voice continued from the surrounding darkness, bleeding down around her as her vision narrowed.   _I was happy with you, just the way you were._

 

"Get out," Stiles said sharply, searching desperately for her cell phone, for help.  "You're a pathetic little fly trapped in a box."

 

Stiles' mirror image stepped from the shadows, as she used to be, as she was the last time this force had reached out to her.  The male just as tall but with wider shoulders, stronger jaw, bigger hands.   _And what box have you trapped yourself in.  So desperate that you were willing to change everything you've ever done just so someone could love you, because that was the only way he could love you.  You call me pathetic?_

 

"Leave him out of this," Stiles growled as the man approached, so familiar and yet never to be again.

 

_You've always been weak Stiles, but I didn't realize how weak you really are, without me anyways.  We were strong together, before us Derek only saw you as a pathetic waste of space, with my magic you commanded his attention.  Now, what's going to happen when Derek wakes up and decides there's better women out there than some... thing that is neither one or the other?_

 

"Shut up," Stiles said, her voice shaky as her hands trembled as she realized that she was alone with the demon and no weapons nearby.

 

 _What?  I may be a trickster but I never lied to you Stiles, never to you.  I was in Derek's head too you know, saw what he really thinks of you.  Skinny, defenseless, Stiles.  That's why I picked you, you know, they only saw you as helpless.  None of them saw the strength you have.  You can do things they can't, that they won't, there's a darkness in you._  Stiles felt the hand run up her sides and wrap around her shoulders, the parody of a hug as foul smelling cloth trailed over her shoulder.  Stiles' shoulder slumped as the familiar power tried to take her again, the words still echoing in her mind.   _You and I are so alike that way, the darkness, you're drawn to it because it's a part of you, because it gives you the strength you need.  They have no idea what we could be capable of, and you wouldn't have to change for me, you never did.  Let me back in Stiles.  Only a matter of time before you let me in again.  I saw that specialness in you when no one else did._

 

"Someone did," Stiles replied, her eyes opening.  "And you'll never hold a candle to the love he's given me."  Power radiated out from Stiles' heart, blasting the demon from her and it shrieked back into the darkness from the advancing light.

 

Stiles gasped awake, cold sweat covering her forehead and her heart racing.  She fell back onto her bed and kicked the covers off, her skin was clammy but the blankets felt like an oven.  The clock on her bedside said 3:34 a.m.  Stiles focused on her breathing, brining it back down to normal to calm her heartbeat.  When her heartbeat had slowed and she was calm again, she dismissed the nightmare and laid back down in bed.  Telling herself that she would not dream.

 

* * *

 

 Stiles sighed and made her way from the parking lot to her usual locker room at the rink, most of the team was getting together to shoot some goals.  It had been the same nightmare twice this week, that Nogitsune was back and trying to take her over again.  "Hey girl," Rachel said, already pulling on her pads.  "You feeling ok?  You look pale."

 

"Just not sleeping well, I'll be fine when I can crash on the weekend," Stiles replied, grabbing her thick headband to hold her bangs out of her face.  The mirror on the inside gave the young woman a shock, her blood running cold and her vision going grey, the world shifted to an odd angle.  She looked like her old self again, except with sunken eyes and a far to wide toothy grin.

 

"Stiles?"  Rachel asked again, her voice echoing as everything slowed down.  "Stiles can you hear me?"  The darkness was bleeding in again, except this time Stiles was awake.  She tried to reply but her breath caught in her throat, she could taste the horrible stench of the Nogitsune.  Rachel was still speaking but Stiles couldn't hear anything except the blood pounding in her ears.  She scrambled for her phone, knees weak; she had to tell Derek, Scott, her father, someone had to know.  It was back, it had escaped, and it wanted her again.  Somehow it had snuck up on her.  Superheated hands were turning her so she could lean agains the locker, even the cool metal felt warm to her clammy skin, their voices echoing incoherently.  A sick feeling invaded - she wasn't strong enough to keep it at bay, it was going to take her - she had to run now.  Darkness closed in and her vision went black.

 

"I'm fine," Stiles replied, taking a few deep breaths.  "No, I'm ok, sorry, don't know what came over me.  God, I'm embarrassed."  Coach had been called in from his summer kiddies class and had been trying to pull Stiles out of her panic attack.  He told her to go home, not wanting her out on the ice if she was going to be weak and injure herself before the new year started.

 

Nogitsune used Stiles' body to gather the backpack and made her way out to the jeep.  There was work to be done; Oni to be summoned, some werewolves to get revenge on, but first one human host to drag out of her hiding place somewhere in her subconscious mind.

 

* * *

  

Sheriff Stilinski sighed and looked at the paperwork in front of him.  Rafe McCall had returned two days earlier, much to Scott's displeasure, but he was more worried how to keep him off the kids trail.  Rafe was starting to put some pieces together, enough to know his son had more knowledge of the past events then the teen was willing to share.  Stilinski wasn't sure how to handle it if the agent put everything together before everyone got their stories straight.

 

"You're awful quiet there Sheriff," Rafe said, sipping his coffee and looking at the same photos.

 

"It's a lot to take in," Stilinski replied, pulling out one of the older ones.  "Don't figure how the Hale fire fits into all this."  Except he did know, he knew about Kate, and what he would have to stop Stiles from doing if the woman ever showed her face in town again.

 

"Witness overlap," Rafe replied, "Even your own daughter has seen an 'accident' recently.  Can't say you weren't expecting this."  Stilinski was tempted to punch the man in the teeth.  Angry that Rafe thought he could just waltz back into town as thought nothing had happened.  The pain he could cause Melissa and Scott was hanging around the kitchen like a thunder cloud.  "I'm going to figure all of this out soon, and then how my same group of witnesses always seem to see nothing substantial."

 

"You know your son is on that list," Stilinski pointed out.

 

"And your daughter," Rafe continued.  "Which is why I'm involving you.  We can investigate this quietly and correctly, protect them where someone else wouldn't while we're getting to the bottom of this."  Stilinski wasn't sure how Rafe would react if he found out his son was one of the monsters that went bump in the night, if he knew the kids had seen more death in the past eighteen months than most cops saw in their entire lifetimes.  "Still quiet over there Sheriff."

 

He was saved by Stiles entering through the back door.  "Hey baby, what happened to meeting up with the team?"

 

"Got sent home, kinda had a panic attack," Stiles replied with a wince, looking rom him to Rafe, "I'm beat, gonna go up and crash for a bit."

 

"Sure," Stilinski replied, shuffling the papers.  "Want me to bring the board up in a few hours?  Play a quick match before dinner?"

 

"Sure," Stiles replied tiredly, turning to walk up the stairs, "Maybe you could actually beat me this time?"  The Sheriff reacted calmly, drawing his taser and firing it expertly between Stiles' shoulder blades.  Rafe shouted, instinctively reaching for his absent off-duty weapon to react to the threat.  Stilinski was already across the room, lowering the seizing body to the ground and wrapping the duck tape from the kitchen drawer around his daughter's hands, feet, and mouth.

 

"What the hell are you doing?"  Rafe asked.

 

"You wanted to know what's going on, you're getting the crash course," Stilinski replied, going to the closet and grabbing the bag marked 'oni' Stiles had put together for emergency responses.  "Grab her and let's go, I'll explain more on the way, we don't have time for questions."  As Rafe loaded Stiles into the back of the squad car her father sent out one mass text:  **Chess.**

 

* * *

 

The cruiser pulled up in front of Derek's loft, the wolf was on his way back from a run on The Preserve, having left strict instructions not to get started till he got back.  "I still need answers," Rafe growled, gently pulling Stiles out of the back seat.

 

"Once that thing is secure," Stilinski assured him, hands holding his shotgun at the ready in case any Oni had been summoned.  "Come on, we're headed upstairs."  Nogitsune woke up halfway and struggled out of Rafe's arms, inhuman growls echoing from behind the layered duct tape.  Stilinski turned and leveled the weapon at his daughter's chest.  "Hey!  You make a run for it and I put two in your chest."  Daring eyes looked back at him, a male laugh chuckled out from the slim girl.  "She made me promise not to be taken alive, and since you don't know that it means she's hiding.  Am I right?"  The creature growled, but allowed Rafe to pick her up from the floor.

 

"Give her here," Scott interjected as he ran down the stairs, Lydia right behind him.  "We're sure it's back?"

 

"I'm sure," Lydia responded, looking into Stiles eyes.  "Not Stiles.  We need to get our girl back."

 

"What is going on?"  Rafe asked, looking at his son as he set Stiles in a chair.

 

"Why is he here?"  Scott bit out, holding Stiles' arm steady while Lydia taped her to the furniture.

 

"Cause he was there when it walked in the door," Stilinski replied, securing the door behind him with a line of silver powder, "If it's back it's recent, I'm not giving it time to settle in again."  Stilinski left out the promise to kill Stiles rather than let the demon use her body again.  "Derek said to wait until he gets here."

 

"We don't have time," Scott replied, setting a chair next to Stiles, Nogitsune starting to struggle against the bonds, it knew what was coming and that this time it may not survive another transformation.  "It's to dangerous to wait."

 

"It might be to dangerous to start," Stilinski countered, "We don't have anything to hold it.  Derek might..."

 

"No," Scott asserted, standing between the two chairs.  "Lydia, come on."

 

"Scott, what is going on?"  Rafe asked again, getting more and more frustrated.

 

"Not now," Scott growled, partially shifting to enter Stiles' mind.

 

"Here we go again," Lydia said, taking a deep breath as she dove into Stiles' mind for the second time in her life.

 

* * *

 

Lydia and Scott woke up in the same white warehouse as before, the tree stump in front of them with Nogitsune alone at the board.  "Where's Stiles?"  Lydia asked.

 

The creature turned and looked at them.  A door appeared to their left and Stiles leaned out of it, screaming.  "This way!  Run!"  Scott and Lydia ducked through the door and they were back in Derek's loft, Stiles leading them towards the spiral staircase.  "What are you two doing here?  Where's Derek?"

 

"We came to get you," Scott replied.  "Derek was on his way, but we couldn't wait."

 

"I have to find a way out for you," Stiles replied, pushing up against the door that appeared at the top of the dead end spiral.  "Come on."  They were in Stiles' bedroom now, and the young woman was leading them towards the window.  "This way, don't try and come back."

 

"We can't just leave you Stiles," Lydia replied.

 

"It's easier for me to hide by myself and this isn't like last time," Stiles argued as she through the window open, she shook her head, they didn't have time for this.  "Go!"  Stiles took Lydia's arm and, with a strength surprising of the young woman, threw Lydia through the window.  Just as she did, Lydia had time to see Nogitsune break through the bedroom door, Stiles grabbed Scott and ran just before her world was swallowed up by light again.

 

* * *

  

"You tell me what is going on right now or I'll," Rafe was shouting as Lydia gasped awake.

 

"Lydia," The Sheriff called, rushing to her side as the woman coughed and helped her stumble to the couch.  "What happened?  Where's Scott?"

 

"She threw me out," Lydia coughed, "Nogitsune caught up, Scott's still in there."

 

"In where?"  Rafe asked, looking between him son and the red head.

 

"Stiels' head," Lydia panted, "Scott's still inside, but they got away from it."  Just as Rafe started to question again Derek burst through the door, locking it again behind him.

 

"I said to wait for me," Derek growled, walking over to Stiles and kneeling down in front of them.  "Sheriff, this doesn't work you know what to do?"  The Sheriff nodded and Derek took Stiles' free hands, going after the two teens.

 

"Is anyone ever going to tell me what's going on?"  Rafe asked, exasperated.

 

* * *

 

Stiles and Scott ducked through the bathroom door to an outdoor field, where they played lacrosse as children.  Scott turned and blinked at the young man standing next to him.  "Stiles where are we?  Stiles?"

 

Stiles looked down, in his old body at their old lacrosse field the first time they'd ever played the sport.  "What, how?"

 

"Why do you look like a guy?"  Scott asked.

 

"I never came back here after Jinny," Stiles replied, trying to get used to his old body again, to wide and decidedly different.  "We're in my mind so it took me somewhere safe, but as I was the last time we were here."

 

"What do you...?" Scott started, then the memories started flashing back.  "You were...a guy...until a few months ago.  What?  What changed, what...?  Derek, when you started seeing Derek!"

 

"Scott, not the time for this," Stiles replied, swaying lightly on his feet, looking around.  "Shit no doors in a field.  Cars, this way."

 

"Run and talk," Scott ordered as they took off towards the parking lot.

 

"I figured out how to hide from the Nogitsune in my mind, every time I change locations it has a harder time tracking me, only works for a certain amount of time though so we have to keep moving," Stiles explained, opening the car door and ushering Scott in first. "Got the idea from a movie."

 

"And the girl bit," Scott seethed as they entered the hospital where Melissa worked.

 

"Run in with a genie," Stiles explained, staggering as the hours of hiding were catching up to her.  While practicing magic helped allow a human to withstand longer bouts of it, Stiles was still human and not designed to practice magic at the level it was costing her to hold back a demon for hours on end.

 

"You're my pack," Scott growled, grabbing Stiles arm and pulling the now female bodied person in front of him, "Why didn't you come to me?"

 

"I did, you just don't remember," Stiles replied, staggering forward and she noticed her nose had started bleeding, "We really need to do this later."

 

"Fine.  Which way?"  Scott asked, slinging Stiles' arm around his shoulder to help her; she tried to get her bearings when a familiar scent wafted from the open door behind them.

 

 _Found you_.  The voice echoed, snatching Stiles out of Scott's hold, a wrapped hand gripping her throat.   _We're together again young man._

 

"No," Scott yelled, charging.  Nogitsune tossed the weakened Stiles aside, using both hands to easily catch Scott and lift him into the air.

 

"Scott," Stiles shouted, starting to flicker between forms again as she lost her sense of identity.  Scott was choking, weaker in Stiles' mind than the last time they had faced off.  Nogitsune roared at the young man, ending it in a manic laugh.  Stiles screamed out, still shifting as she attempted to crawl to Scott, to do something to save her pseudo brother.

 

"I got him," Derek said, appearing out of no where with a hand on his soulmate's shoulder.  Stiles nodded weakly as Derek shifted and charged at the demon.

 

"Told you so," Stiles smirked at Nogitsune as it held only air, leaning heavily on the nurses station, unable to stand on her own.

 

* * *

 

Scott grasped awake and fell away from Stiles; the burning, rotting stench of Nogitsune filling his lungs. "Scott," The Sheriff cried, rushing forward to help him to the chair next to Stiles.  "You ok?"

 

Scott nodded through the coughing, then froze, looking up at the Sheriff and ignoring his father over the other man's shoulder.  "You knew, didn't you?"  He looked confused.  "Stiles, and what happened a few months ago."

 

"Not now son," Stilinski replied, his eyes going dark.  "You can ask her once she's safe."

 

"Scott," Rafe said, shifting around to the other side and finally getting a long look at his son's face, recoiling.  "What...Scott..?"

 

"Add it to the list of things we're dealing with later," Scott replied, calming enough that his face shifted back to his human features as he stood.  "Now, why couldn't Lydia and I pull Stiles out like last time?"

 

"We didn't know Stiles and Derek were soulmates last time," Stilinski replied, "It's on them now.  Stiles said she had a plan so, she's usually good at those right?"

 

* * *

 

Derek ran right back to Stiles after he got Scott out through the bedroom window, tracking her back to the room in her mind that resembled Derek's loft.  She was there, collapsed on the floor in pain and still flickering between male and female forms.  "Stiles," he called, running forward.

 

"Derek, no, it's a trap," her oscillating voices called out.  To late, Nogitsune was there, it's dark vines reaching out and throwing Derek off balance.

 

 _Hello again_.  It's voice echoed, no mouth visible for it to speak through.   _You were fun to play with, maybe I'll take you again.  It would be so delicious to use you to murder everyone in that room, starting with dear Stiles' father._  Both were trying to crawl towards each other, fighting the mental strain of the demon with everything they had.  Derek slashed as the vines but it seemed there was always another there; panic set it, he couldn't get to her.   _Can you imagine, how heartbroken Stiles would feel?  I'd let her come back you know, watch the man she loves kill the one who raised her, or should I say him?  It's so confusing now._  It reached down and pulled Derek's hair up so it could whisper in Derek's ear, Stiles screamed out for the demon to let Derek go but was unable to move closer than a few feet.  The mental strain of keeping Nogitsune trapped in her mind taking it's toll.   _Wait, I have a better idea, what if I let her be?_ Derek froze, catching eyes with Stiles, male again.  Blood was coming from both sides of his nose, paler than he'd been even with Nogitsune draining his strength last time, already dying.   _Oh - Him again - how do you keep it straight?  Think of it Derek, I promise never to touch or inhabit Stiles again, if you and I leave now._

 

"Don't listen Derek," Stiles gasped through gritted teeth.  "Don't let him use me against you."

 

 _But does Stiles realize that you are the one causing all of this pain?  Stiles can't even choose a form, she hasn't really accepted her fate, still views herself as a male.  That didn't happen before you did it?  That vulnerability, that led me to take over again, that's all because of you.  All this unease, why she wasn't able to resist me like last time, that's what happens when we add you in the mix.  You're what's killing her at this very moment._ Derek felt a wave of self loathing sweep through him, even as Stiles shouted not to listen and to fight back.  The voice lowered and was now whispering in his ear.   _You can save her, like you could never save your family Derek.  All you have to do is let me in.  Even if she hates you, she'll be alive to hate you.  So what will it be Derek?  Will you save her?  Your choice._

 

There was a sudden blinding light from in front of them, resonating through Stiles.  When it faded she stepped out, power radiating from her hands and a rage behind her eyes Derek had never seen.  "Bitch can save herself," she barked, throwing up one hand to blast Nogitsune away from Derek and the poisonous vines with it.  Derek gasped as the evil influence was burned from him in a moment, he hadn't realized the vines had been leeching his soul.  Stiles reached up and extended her hand.  "He thinks we're easy by ourselves, lets show him what we got together?"  Derek nodded, shifting to his wolf form as he stood.  When their hands touched red string wove around their joined hands and the glow from Stiles shifted to Derek.

 

 _It's not possible._ Nogitsune cried from across the room.   _You're both broken, both weak._   _You can't fight me, you can't kill me!_

 

Derek responded with a howl and they charged.

 

* * *

 

Stilinski had forced everyone to retreat towards the door when Derek had shifted and Stiles started glowing.  Derek howled and the glow intensified, both of them barely visible as a violent series of sparks ran over them, blowing out all the electricity in the loft.  Rafe was hysterical, thankfully Scott had taken any weapons off him before the freak out.  Lydia was the first to recover, running forward to check on the two with a shout of their names.

 

"Stiles," Derek said, holding the unconscious woman in his arms.

 

"What happened?"  Lydia asked, falling to her knees beside them.

 

"She killed it," Derek said, sounding very tired.  "She took out the Nogitsune."

 

There was a pregnant pause.  "How?"  Scott asked, joining the Sheriff at the semi-circle of people there.

 

"We were fighting and she just got a grip on him, and she started draining her power into him," Derek said, looking up at the others, "Said she wasn't going to let him hurt anyone else ever again, then he just started falling apart and we woke up here."

 

"Well out here there was a whole fireworks show," Stilinski replied as Stiles started to stir.  "Glowing and howling and everything."

 

"I want pancakes," Stiles said quietly.  "With blueberries."

 

Stilinski laughed, "You'll get that and a side of curly fries baby girl, just don't scare me like that again."

 

"What is going on?"  Rafe screamed.

 

* * *

  

"So...werewolves, and a banshee," Rafe said, pointing to each one and finally landing on Stiles.  "And a thousand year old fox demon from Japan that you killed with as yet unclassified magical powers."

 

"Yup," Stilinski replied, pouring out another round of coffee.  The whole crew had loaded into cars and driven back to the Stilinski's, Derek stopped on the way and brought food for everyone.

 

"Welcome to the weird," Stiles replied, munching on another curly fry with Derek curled around her on the couch.

 

"And Scott, you're a werewolf?"  Rafe asked, his son nodding.  "And your mother knows?"  Another nod.  "And Sheriff, you know."

 

"I found out the first time this thing took her over," Stilinski replied, "Nogitsune used her to do some not very nice things."

 

"I'm, uh, still having some trouble processing this," Rafe replied after a long pause.

 

"Sleep on it," Stilinski continued, "Still haven't figured it out myself.  For now, Stiles needs to get to bed, and so does everyone else here with school tomorrow."  Everyone except Derek filtered out, he was still sitting next to Stiles running his hand over her arm.

 

"We going to talk about what happened in your mind?"  He said softly as the Sheriff escorted a particularly annoyed Scott out of their house, "The switching?"

 

"I hadn't fully accepted my fate," Stiles replied slowly, running her hand over his.  "I was still adjusting, and Nogitsune used that as a weak point."

 

"And now?"  Derek asked, moving to the stairs with her still wrapped up in his arms; Stiles was still shaky and could barely stand without support more or less walk.

 

"No more weak point," Stiles replied with a smile, leaning close to press a kiss against Derek's lips.  "There was something holding me back before, something...I don't know what but when you and I took it down everything snapped into place."

 

"And you need to snap your way into that bed," Stilinski replied, entering his daughter's room.  Stiles tried to convince her father to let Derek stay, as brave a face as she put on she was pretty sure there were going to be nightmares.  Derek laying on the ground being covered by vines wasn't a sight she was going to forget anytime soon, her own helplessness compounding the issue in her subconscious.  Stilinski was firm though, and his daughter's older boyfriend was absolutely not spending the night under the same roof.

 

Derek had similar thoughts as he returned to the loft, the chair they'd tied Stiles to still had tape on it.  Only a a few months together and he'd almost lost Stiles, almost lost another person he loved.  He turned away quickly, dealing with everything could wait until the next morning.  "Hello lover," a voice said from the darkness by his door.  A crack echoed throughout the loft before he could even fully turn back, followed by a searing pain in his chest.  Derek looked down and saw his hand covered in his own blood, threads of skin dangled from white protrusions at the edges of the wound.  He realized, with a wave of nausea, those white bits were his ribs.  Grey began to dance at the edges of his vision, the last thing Derek saw before darkness took him was Kate walking towards his with an unholy smile on her face.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we go!


	20. Lost and Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles is getting Derek back, by any means necessary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being so late, I've had this written but life kicked my ass the last few months.

* * *

 

Stiles hadn’t slept in three days, not since she and Derek had managed to defeat the Nogitsune.  When she'd gone over to see him after school, she'd expected to find him sleeping off the stress, not a pool of blood and a pile of spent brass.  Her father had found her sitting on the floor, unmoving several hours later in the midst of a panic attack.  Lydia was able to assure her that Derek was still alive, she hadn’t screamed for him and from what she could see when she touched the shells he was still moving when he was taken.  Kate had been the one with the shotgun, Stiles had been physically ill when Lydia described what happened, then everything went black and she came to back at her house.

The Sheriff had apologized over and over again, she assured her father that she didn’t blame him.  Kate would have come for Derek no matter where he had been.  After everything sank in, she was to emotionally raw from defeating Nogitsune she’d lost it, her mind going blank again as she stared at the wall.  There wasn’t a lot she remembered, her father told her she’d just sat on her bed in one of Derek’s tee shirts, unmoving as people tried to talk to her.  Her first really memory after Derek has been taken was looking him straight in the eye and speaking in a numb voice she barely recognized.  “I’m going to find him, and I’m going to kill anyone who gets in my way.”

“Stiles, you’re scaring me,” The Sheriff replied.

“They need to be scared,” Stiles replied, “What if he’s already gone?  Why did Kate go after him, there’s nothing else she can do to him?  What if I can’t find him dad?  What if I’ve lost him?”  Tears began to run down her face, she was still shaking with anger but crying from the thought of loosing him.

“Don’t talk like that Stiles,” Stilinski tried to comfort, wrapping an arm around his daughter.

“It’s all I can think about dad,” Stiles sobbed into his shoulder, “What they’re doing to him.  They’ve had him for two days, you know the first 24 hours are the most important, I’ve been to late to help people before.”

“Stiles, baby, none of this is your fault,” The Sheriff said, now holding her tightly.  “None of this has ever been your fault.”

“Allison was my fault,” Stiles cried, “Aiden was my fault, they were my fault dad, I can’t loose Derek, I can’t have _anyone_ else die because of me.”

“It’s not you baby, it’s not you,” The Sheriff said again, fighting back his own tears at his child’s pain.  “It’s whoever did this.  We’re going to find Derek and we’re going to bring him home, I promise you that.”

Stiles cried into his shoulder for a few more moments then sniffled, “Please don’t do that dad, please don’t make a promise you can’t keep.”

“I promise that I’m going to do everything I can to help you,” The Sheriff compromised.

“The last time she took him she tortured him,” Stiles said quietly, “Chained him up and electrocuted him.  She killed his whole family dad, and now she’s back for what?  What more can she take from him?  Why does she want him?  Wh…”

“You need to snap out of it baby,” Stilinski said, backing away and holding her so she could look at him, “Stop thinking about Kate or anything else.  Just focus on the facts, worry about everything else later.”

“Kate…Hunters…”  Stiles said.  Still with tears on her face she turned and jumped for her wall. “Lydia said there were hunters working with Kate.  We track the mark on the shell and maybe find out where they went.”  She forcibly dried her eyes and forced all her emotions under the surface, they had to be dealt with later. “Maybe the Argents know the symbol.”

“Will he help us?”  The Sheriff asked.

“He’ll help me,” Stiles replied, picking up her phone and putting the video call through.

“Who is this?”  The gravelly voice of Chris Argent lilted through the room, clearly waking up wherever he was.  “I’m hanging up now,” the man replied as he recognized the girl on the screen.

“Kate took Derek,” Stiles replied.

“I lost my daughter saving you,” Chris growled.

“You’re sister killed his whole family and tortured him, you owe him not me,” Stiles reminded him, “These were found at the flat, tell me everything you know about them right now and I'll never bother you again.”

“That’s the mark of the Calaveras,” Argent said after a long moment of silence.  “Deaton will know where to find them.”

“All you had to do,” Stiles replied, softening, “Tell Isaac I miss him.”  Chris nodded and disconnected the call without saying goodbye.

 

* * *

 

Turns out the Calaveras were a hunter family based out of Mexico, they currently operated out of some sort of club.  The Sheriff wanted to wait to list Derek as officially missing before investigating with police backup, but after ten days of trying to get around the law Scott finally backed Stiles’ plan to just go get him.  So they all packed up for the weekend and took off that Friday.

“So,” Scott asked about twenty miles outside Beacon County, “We ever going to talk about what I saw in your mind?”

Stiles sighed, fingers tapping against the steering wheel, now understanding why Scott had insisted they ride together.  “What do you want to know Scott?”

“You were a guy and now you’re a girl,” the teen replied.  “How’d that happen and who else knows?  While we’re on that, why can’t anyone remember?”

“Derek accidentally saved the life of a genie, asked to meet the woman who would love him, and she turned me into a woman,” Stiles replied, “We found a way to undo it, but by that time I didn’t want to.  The genie realized that she’d caused pain for Derek rather than him feeling better so she offered me a trade; everyone would remember me as a girl.  I took the second option.  I know, Derek knows, and my dad knows.  Now you too.”

“Why didn’t you come to me when the change happened?”  Scott asked.

“I did,” Stiles replied, there was a heavy moment of silence when Scott realized he was magically barred from remembering most of their actual childhood together.  “You don’t remember.”

“Why didn’t you tell me afterwards?” Scott asked.

“With how you reacted to me dating Derek?”  Stiles asked, her hand gripping the steering wheel now.  “How would you feel about me deciding to make such a big change for him?”

“Not happy about it,” Scott replied, “You picked him over everything we had together.”

“We lost lacrosse practice together and we hang out all the time anyway, the rest of the memories were very specifically left alone,” Stiles replied.  “You don’t get this decision in my life Scott, it was between me and Derek and had absolutely nothing to do with you.  You’re still my brother from a different mother and you’re still my best friend.  Just because something changed doesn’t mean it’s lost.”

“I don’t agree with you changing yourself to…” Scott started.

“I have been down that road with my dad, Derek, and _myself_ … multiple times,” Stiles nearly shouted.  “Give me one reason you think we haven’t thought of or that you didn’t already say when I told you about Derek and I dating!”

“You guys go over the whole he should have loved you for you argument?”  Scott seethed.

“Love and sexuality are not necessarily the same thing,” Stiles replied, “I was bisexual so I was ok with dating either but Derek isn’t homosexual or bisexual and I respect that as well.  I literally have no idea why I handled the change as well as I did…apparently I’m resilient as fuck and don’t think _that_ fact wasn’t a mind fuck all on it’s own because it was.”

“Why didn’t Derek get the sex change?”  Scott spat.

“Well…” Stiles started.  “Ok, that is a new one, and that wasn’t an option on the table at the time so we didn’t think of it.  Besides…Derek as a girl, he’s moody enough all ready, universe couldn’t handle that and neither could I.”

“Do not make a joke out of this,” Scott growled.

“I don’t know what else to do Scott,” Stiles shouted right back, “This is my life, this is the choice I made, there’s no other option than to live with it.  There is nothing you can do about it other than accept it or not.”

“What do you mean 'or not'?”  Scott asked.

“You can always choose not to accept my decision,” Stiles replied, “And I don’t want to think about that because I don’t want to loose you, but you cannot ask me to choose between being your friend and loving Derek.  I don’t know how I would pick but I know he isn’t going to force me to choose between you and him, so just think about that.”

“I just don’t know how to reconcile this Stiles,” Scott said quietly after a few minutes of silence.  "How do I mourn what I can't remember?"

“And I don’t know how to help you come to terms with this,” the young woman responded, following the next turn on their map, “Right now, let’s just focus on finding him somewhere in the entirety of Mexico.”

 

* * *

 

 “This is really stupid,” Lydia commented as they walked through the town.

“I was willing to go my own,” Stiles replied coldly.

“That’s even stupider,” Lydia scoffed.

“You don’t know that,” Stiles defended as they walked into the club and made their way to the security camera.  “This set us back, I could have been out here the weekend we found out.”

“Yes I do know because I heard your plan and it was stupid, rushing in would have gotten you both killed,” Lydia continued as if they were discussing the weather instead of Stiles going alone to speak to a para-military death gang.  “Having Scott, Malia and Kira here for backup is a good idea.”

“It puts them in danger.” Stiles said just after she flashed the card, “Lydia, I’m gonna pull something in there if things start to go sideways, just trust me ok?  Pretend like everything is normal.”

“Cryptic,” Lydia said, but she didn’t have time to ask as the door swung open.  They sat down, put their money on the table and asked for Derek, everything in the negotiation was going well till the woman leaned back with a predatory smile.

“He’s worth so much to you, I’ll take double,” she said.

Lydia sized up the woman and smiled right back, “Stiles, take ten thousand off the table.”  The girl leaned forward and pulled off two stacks of the cash.

“That’s not double,” Calaveras said, “How about I just kill him.”

“I have a better idea,” Stiles said.  Lydia saw her eyes flash white and then Calavera was screaming, her hand on the table jerking like it was in pain.  “You tell us where he is, and I stop hurting you.”

“Puta!”  The woman screamed.  “Guards!”

“If my friends left any alive they can’t hear you,” Stiles smiled after a moment.  “Now, tell us everything you know about Derek Hale, and I’ll stop.”  The woman spasmed in pain again, falling out of her chair and crying out for help, hand still on the table as if it was pinned.  “None of these sound like an answer.”

Finally the woman screamed out, “I don’t know.”  Stiles’s eyes flashed again and the woman fell to the ground cradling the hand from the table, sobbing in pain.

“Then why did you try to sell him back to us?”  Stiles asked.

“We wanted your Banshee,” she gasped, “Please, please just go.”

“Where would you take Derek?”  Stiles asked, crouching over the woman with a dark look in her eyes, Lydia was trying to keep her cool like Stiles asked.  They were given the name of an old town, a ruin really, and told to look for Derek under the Aztec temple.  As soon as they were outside Lydia had Stiles pinned up against the car.

“Explain what the hell happened in there,” she barked against her pack mates protest.

“I made her see something,” Stiles replied.  “Like a knife pinning her hand to the table.  It was just an illusion, I didn’t really hurt her.”

“How?”  Lydia asked, “Something has been up and I need to know this is you.”

“You know I’ve been getting better at magic,” Stiles replied, “Working on my spark.”

“Never like this,” Lydia growled.

“Let it go for now,” Stiles said, gently removing Lydia’s hands from her shirt, “We have a clue for finding Derek.”

“At what cost Stiles?”  Lydia bit out, “Where did you get this kind of magic?”

“Not now,” Stiles resigned.  “It doesn’t matter if it gets us Derek back.”

“Once again Stiles, at what cost?”  Lydia asked.

“We need to get moving,” Stiles overruled.

“I’m going with you,” Lydia said, kicking Scott back to Braeden’s car.  “We need to talk.”

“Nope,” Stiles replied, “Not now.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but I agree with the ginger,” Malia said quietly as she slid in the back seat.  "You need to open up to us Stiles, you've never been like this...  For the record, this is _me_ saying that."

"Lydia, you remember how Jackson was before you helped him even out?"  Stiles asked.

"Lizard demon?"  Lydia deadpanned.  "Should I be looking for scales?"

"Anchor-less," Stiles clarified, "Derek's my anchor, I will do _anything_ to get him back.  What more do I have to say to get this through your head?"

"As many times as it takes until I stop worrying about the fucking Nogitsune coming back," Lydia shrieked suddenly.  "Do you have any idea Stiles?  Any idea what it was like to loose you to that thing?  To watch as one of my best friends turned into something I might have to kill?  It just came back the second time and I'm worried it's taken over you again.  I saw what almost happened on the stairs Stiles, I know what you made your father promise."

"What is she talking about?"  Malia asked, just then something hit their car and Stiles had to swerve to keep them from taking out another one of their convoy.

"Everyone ok?" Scott called once they had taken stock of each other.

"We're fine," Stiles replied, "Keep going, get to Derek.  Malia, get the tool kit out of the back."

"Not till you tell me what happened with Nogitsune coming back," Malia said quietly, "I need to know what you were going to do Stiles."  Stiles went around the car and grabbed the toolkit herself, but Malia slammed the hood on the jeep down.  When Stiles when to open it again, the woman put her hand on the top.  "You told me people don't leave other people behind, now tell me what you were going to do!"

"My dad was going to kill me," Stiles replied softly, "Before it took me over again.  I would rather die than watch what it had planned for each of you.  When I burned it some of it's magic attached to me, but it's purified, that's why I can use it for an illusion but not really harm anyone."  Malia heard the barely present heartbeat irregularity, but dismissed it as Stiles starting to work on the engine of her car.  "It's not a permanent thing, once I use up the reserve it'll all be gone.  You can relax about an evil void taking me over again."

"We both know the nightmares haven't gone away yet," Lydia mused as Stiles got the jeep running enough to get them caught up to the others.

Braden's car was parked outside an old church, a note clipped to the dash put them down about twenty minutes before and they should be back on the way up.  Lydia and Malia won the argument to wait until thirty minutes had passed before going in after them.  Stiles spent it pacing and trying not to think about what they could have found or why they were suggesting she stay away.  Everyone knew what Kate had done to Derek the last time she had him, they could only hope it hadn't gotten worse.

"They're coming up!"  Malia called, helping them out of the gap and across the dilapidated church yard.

“Derek,” Stiles called hopefully, running up to Scott as he helped carry a dark haired man.

“Stiles wait,” Scott protested, “Just…”  Her footsteps slowed and stopped in front of the two carrying her soulmate, then a boy raised his face to look at the people in front of him in confusion.  Stiles felt like she had been punched in the gut, cold despair seeping through her bones.  When Derek’s head slumped forward again Stiles ran forward and grabbed his face with her hands, moving it so she could see it clearly.

“No,” she whispered.  “Oh God, please no.”

“We don’t know anything,” Scott assured her, “Let’s just get him home ok?”  Stiles mutely nodded and refused to leave his side the entire way home, his head resting in her lap as she prayed to anyone listening to return Derek to her.

 

* * *

 


	21. Young

* * *

Stiles felt like a twenty pound stone was resting on her chest, probably signs of hypertension or a heart attack, but she had to deal with those later.  Right now all that mattered was the young body resting across the seats, head resting in her lap.  She ran her fingers through his dark hair to his smooth temple, the jaw line so different from the one she'd come to know this past year.  Her hand finally came to rest over his heart, beating light and fast, his skin warm under hers.  To warm, they needed to get back to Deaton, fast.

"It'll be ok Stiles," Lydia said from the front seat, trying to sound positive even with her brow furrowed.  "We'll figure this out and get him back."

"Don't make a promise you can't keep," Stiles managed to choke out.  The rest of the tense car ride was silent, hours and hours of Stiles straining to keep tab on Derek's vitals, any deviance recorded to give to Deaton.  If the man chose this time to be cryptic and give half answers, Stiles was going to request specifics, very politely, with her fists.

"We don't know anything," Deaton said blankly as Derek laid on the exam table, unresponsive.

"That's not good enough," Stiles growled, the rest of the wolves in the room wary of the young woman.

"Stiles, I won't know any more until he wakes up," Deaton said again, this time a little more aware of the young woman's mindset.  "Now, you guys go home and get some rest, I'll call you and soon as we know anything."

"I'm not leaving him," Stiles started, "I can't..."

"I'll stay," Lydia offered, seeing the bags under Stiles' eyes.

"If he wakes up and remembers everything he's going to kill us for not taking care of you," Scott responded.  "Come on Stiles, you got him back, that's not nothing."

"I promise I'll call you the moment he wakes up," Lydia said quietly, resting her hand on Stiles' shoulder in comfort.  "Come on, go with Scott."  Stiles finally nodded and pressed one last kiss to Derek's heated forehead before going home.

"Oh shit," Stiles sighs as she collapses into the jeep, Scott driving since Stiles was so tired.

"What?" Scott asks.

"Dad's going to kill me," Stiles chuckled.

Scott pulled up to the house and saw his mother's car outside.  "We are both totally grounded."

 

* * *

 

The next call Stiles got was Derek had escaped from the clinic, apparently remembering nothing from the ten years Kate had de-aged him.  Stiles had zero qualms about skipping out of classes to go after him.  Half way to the clinic for Scott to track him, a call came in from her father.

"Hey dad," Stiles answered.

"Did you forget to mention Derek was fifteen and had no memory?"  The Sheriff asked.

"We didn't know what she did to him," Stiles replied, "Is he there?"

"Someone found him digging around his old family house," The Sheriff replied, "Thankfully Parrish responded to the call, got him back here before any real damage was done.  He's with him now, but Stiles he doesn't know about his family."

"Just wait till I get there," Stiles replied, turning sharply and ending the call.

Over at the Sheriff's office he stared at a de-aged Derek with caution.  He remembered the round faced boy from his response to the Hale fire his first year on the force.  The boy had already fled with his sister Laura, but his photo had survived with a few others they'd been trying to identify in the remains.  "Hey son," he said to the young man sitting in his office.  "Do you remember me?"  It was hard to believe this was the same gruff, haunted man that loved his child.

The boy shook his head, accepting the cup of water The Sheriff had brought with him.  "I don't, can you tell me what happened?"

"What's the last thing you remember?"  The Sheriff asked, looking sideways at Parrish to see if he had any insight to the situation, the man shrugged.

"I was..." Derek shifted, "I was going to meet someone.  Laura was going to the store before dinner.  Can you tell me what happened to my house?"

"That's a longer story," Stilinski replied, "We need to wait for a few other people before we get started."  He managed to keep Derek calm while Stiles and Scott got there, then left to go talk to them.  It took a while to convince Stiles to stay out of the room when all she wanted was to stay close, but he needed to keep the boy calm until the situation was explained.  The moment Derek looked right at her with no recognition in his eyes Stiles' self control finally broke and she burst into tears.  Scott took her off to the side and Stilinski went back to explain everything to Derek.

"Why is she crying?"  Derek asked, looking back at the girl.

"Ok, I know you don't remember me, but we're both going to need a little bit of faith here ok?"  Stilinski asked.  "We're still figuring everything out, but I don't have time to give you the long version."  Derek looked confused.  "I know you're a werewolf Derek, born and raised by your Alpha Talia Hale."  The teen jumped to his feet in surprise.  "Something happened to you and you were aged back ten years, we're still figuring out why..."

"If you know my mother you she can help," Derek prompted, "Just call her, she'll come!"

"Derek, this is the hard part," Stilinski said, his face grim, "There's no easy way to say this Derek, but ten years ago there was a fire...and...your mother didn't make it out..."  The boy sat down again, blood draining from his face.  "Cora survived, you protected her and got her to a safe place in South America."

"Do you know what happened?"  Derek asked, looking beyond tears as his whole world crumbled.  The Sheriff's heart broke for the boy, there was never an excuse for what he'd beed forced to live through.

"Longer story that we have time for," Sheriff said quietly, "Very unfortunately."

Derek turned, still pale and shaky, when he saw something that made him stop.  "Why is she crying?"  He asked, seeing Stiles sob in the other room.

"That's Stiles," Sheriff explained, recognizing Derek's deflecting tactic from his own pain.  "She's crying because you're her boyfriend and you don't remember her.  She didn't want me to tell you what happened because she wanted to protect you from that pain a second time."

"She dresses like a guy," Derek said, his brow furrowing, " _That's_ my girlfriend?"

"She's a tomboy," The Sheriff defended.  "And my daughter."

"She's older than me," Derek continued.

"This role reversal will be very funny once your get your memories back," Stilinski sighed.

Derek suddenly stood and charged out of the room, his eyes angry.  "You!  Tell me why you have my grandmothers ring!" 

"Dad, no!"  Stiles called, looking at her father with his hand on his specialized pepper spray for weres.  "Derek wait, calm down, you gave it to me.  You don't remember."  He continued to stalk forward, Scott got between them but Derek easily shoved him asked.  "Derek wait, look at my hands, you had to get it resized.  You gave it to me after we were together for three months..."  Derek grabbed her arm and stared at it, ignoring Stiles' wince as her arm was compressed.  "Derek, please..."

"This was resized," he said so quietly no one except Scott could hear, his hand loosening.  "My mother would never have permitted it unless she was alive to meet you."  Fresh tears poured down Stiles' cheeks as she reached out to hold him close.  Derek flinched and backed away. "I still don't know you."

"Stiles," Scott offered, "Take him to my place while the Sheriff and I get a plan together.  We have to look at every possibility, he'll be safe there."  Stiles nodded and swallowed her feelings.  They bundled Derek into the jeep and they were on their way to the McCalls.

"I could have stayed at Scott's by myself," Derek said quietly, "I'll be safe at the Alpha's, why won't you leave me alone?"

"We made a promise Derek, even if you don't remember," Stiles replied broodily, eyes still bloodshot, "I'll never leave you."

 

* * *

 

Stiles managed to bluff her way past Agent Ass-Hole (she refused to call him anything else) and get Derek up to Scott's room before he caused any more trouble.  It didn't matter if he'd seen what happened with Nogitsune, he wasn't being brought into the fold on everything.  "When you get your memories back you are speaking to me in Spanish all the time."

"Why?"  Derek asked.

"You'll understand later," Stiles sighed, "I keep forgetting you're two or three years younger than me right now."  Stiles sighed again as Derek stood awkwardly in the other teen's room, no doubt smelling the Alpha and not knowing how to act.  Her heart ached in response to his distress, she could feel the bond between them fading with every hour Derek didn't recognize her.  "Look, I know you don't remember me...but can I hug you?  Please?"  It felt weird asking for permission, but Derek nodded anyway.  The now taller woman took half a step closer, slowly winding her arms around his shoulders and drawing him close, not letting go.  "Ok, I get it now."

"Get what?"  Derek asked, the hug was confusing but not repulsive, there was something familiar about her scent he couldn't name; something lurking at the back of his mind trying to claw it's way out.

"You," Stiles replied, pulling him even closer and cradling the back of his head with her hand.  "When you're older.  I just want to protect you from anything that could ever hurt you.  You said that to me once."

"I did?"  Derek asked.

Stiles drew back and took both of Derek's hands in her own.  "I don't have any words to make you trust me Derek, and I know how hard this is for you, but trust that I will do everything in my power to keep you safe."

Rafe called up before Derek could respond.  "Kids, dinner's ready, Scott texted not to wait for him!"

"Be right there!"  Stiles called back before mumbling under her breath.  "Ass-hat."

"You should be more respectful of your elders," Derek replied.

"You hate him too," Stiles responded as they descended the staircase, "You just don't remember."

"I don't believe that one quite yet," the younger Derek replied, causing Stiles to roll her eyes in response.

Somehow they managed to make it through dinner without letting the older McCall know what was going on or why Scott wasn't there.  Thankfully her already known distaste for the older man meant she didn't have to try and engage in conversation no matter how much the older agent tried.  Derek was a little more amicable, stating his knowledge of Spanish and managing to fib his way through knowing the teens without Scott ever having mentioned them.

"Would love to stay and read the fortune cookie but we have a chem project," Stile said with a smile, hauling Derek from the table with his plate.

"We should help with dishes," Derek replied, looking at the dirty plates.

"Rafe should catch up with his family, starting with twelve years of missed chores," Stiles snarked, "Let's go."  Halfway up the stairs Stiles' cell phone went off.  "Go ahead, I'll be right there.  It's Stiles."

"Stiles," Scott warned, sounding like he was moving in the background.  "Is Derek with you?"

"Yeah, we're still at your place," Stiles replied, "Also, sorry but your dad's still a dick."

"Deal with that later," Scott continued, "Kate followed us back in the country, she's after Derek."

Stiles was moving at 'Kate' but walking so she didn't alert McCall something was wrong.  "Why?  Why would Kate come after him after all this time?"

"We don't know yet," Scott replied, sounding like he was piling in a car, Lydia's voice in the background.  "Peter said something about a vault so I guess they're after some type of artifact."

"Ok, I'll..." Stiles started to reply, turning the corner to see Kate climbing out of the window and Derek gone.  "Oh hell no!  Scott get over here now!"  Stiles slid the phone in her back pocket and dove out of the window after Kate.  "Get away form him you BITCH!"

"Derek go!"  Kate called, putting herself between Stiles and Derek.  "Please, you can't trust her."

"Derek don't!"  Stiles cried, "She did this to you, so you'd trust her.  She's involved somehow, please, get away from her!"

"Derek, I'd never hurt you," Kate oozed.

"You make me sick bitch," Stiles said, something beyond anger in her eyes as power resonated from her fists.

"No don't!"  Derek called, running forward to protect Kate from Stiles.  The woman let the power drain from her hands as Derek approached.  "Please don't hurt her!"  Stiles reached out and let her hand trail across Derek's softened jaw, then she slumped unconscious to the ground.

Kate stood behind Stiles with a night stick in her hand, a sweet smile on her face.  "Come on my little love, let's go."  Derek didn't know what to think as Kate bound Stiles' hands and threw her in the trunk of the car.  "I have to do this baby, she's going to use you, please - I just want to keep you safe."  Everything Kate said about Stiles erasing his memory with her magic and deceiving him seemed to make sense.  Even Scott turning her just to get to him seemed to add up, it explained why they were working so hard to keep everything from him even while they claimed to help him.  "Will you open it for me?"  Kate begged with a sweet kiss to his lips when they approached his family vault.  "Please Derek, if I don't get the amulet I won't be able to control my shift.  Scott bit me and refused to accept me into the pack because I wouldn't go without you.  It's the only way...please..."  Just as Kate went to kiss him again a blast resonated through the air, Kate sent flying against the sign as Derek was left unharmed.

"I said not to touch him," Stiles growled behind behind them, her hands glowing with power.  "You think duct tape and a bump on the head will keep me from protecting him?"  Her voice started to resonate with power, her whole body glowing as she stalked closer to the pair.  Derek watched in awe, surprised a blow of that power had only hurt Kate, magic normally didn't care who was in the way.  It meant Stiles' only desire was to protect Derek, she couldn't have controlled it otherwise.

"Derek," Kate choked out, causing the confused teen to look back at his former lover.  "Please...help me..."

"No," Stiles growled, throwing another energy blast at the woman, putting herself between Kate and Derek.  "You will never speak to him again."

"I'll stop you," Kate growled, shifting to her beta were form.

Stiles just laughed, low and deadly.  "I tore apart a thousand year old demon to keep him safe." The teen approached and lifted the woman with one arm.  "Think you're a challenge?"  Derek could hear her heartbeat, steady in her chest, she was telling the truth.

"I may not be," Kate choked, "But _they_ are.  Get him."  Derek turned, a berserker has appeared out of no where with claws slicing through the air toward him, there wasn't even time to raise his hands in defense.

"No!"  Stiles called, dropping Kate and running towards Derek.  She must have put some magic in her sprint, because one moment she was threatening Kate and the next she was pushing Derek to the ground.  Her own body between Derek and the approaching threat, claws descending towards her side.  Claws tore through her flesh and her blood splattered against his chest, the teen blinked as he was barraged with memories, he wasn't sure if they were his own or not.  He was older, stronger, and had a beard; Stiles was curled up against his chest with a book, smiling widely.

"Stiles," he gasped quietly.  The girl's arm wrapped around him and a blast of power carried them away from the fight towards the school.  There were more memories; warm lips against his own, sliding his grandmothers ring on her finger, watching a game with the Sheriff, running his fingers through her short cropped hair.

"You have to run," Stiles gasped, her shirt dangling from one shoulder, blood dripping from her wounds.  "Get out of here."

"You're hurt," Derek said, trying to blink away the memories and focus.

"I'll hold them off, run!"  Stiles insisted.

"No," Derek said, looping her arm over his shoulder, "I don't know who to believe, but I can't let you die on me."  Derek said, blinking away another memory of Stiles standing in front of him, the words 'I choose this' echoing between them.

"No, find Scott, he'll keep you safe," Stiles replied as Derek dragged her with him, barely able to put one foot in front of another.  He managed to get her down the stairs to meet Scott and Malia, Peter no where to be found once the Berserkers howled their attack.

"Protect her," Scott ordered, already in his beta shift as he and Malia ran to fend off the attacking creatures.

"Stiles," Derek asked, her knees giving out as he guided her to the ground.

"Derek," she said quietly, her skin pale and clammy, "You have to run, you can't beat them."  She reached up and touched his face.  "You have to live Derek."  Stiles forced a cell phone into Derek's hand, her jaw set in a firm line.  "Cora's number is in here, she'll protect you.  You have to live Derek.  Go!"  More memories came flooding back.  Stiles was a lanky teenage boy, then a girl again, sitting on his counter as he cooked dinner and laughing at Star Wars with him.  He was about to speak to her again when Malia and Scott were knocked back, both defeated by the Berserkers.

"Derek, run!"  Scott called.  Kira charged forward, appear from out of no where, but was also knocked back after landing a few blows.

Derek looked down at the body in his arms and back up at the approaching monster, the second escorting Kate from the grounds.  "No," Derek growled, his eyes glowing yellow.  He laid Stiles down, gently as he could ever remember moving, then ran for the creatures bearing down on them.  Derek might be young, but he'd been training since he was a child, and he knew how to hold his own against multiple attackers.  They were bigger than him, but that only meant he was faster, using whirlwind kicks to gain momentum and stay out of reach.  It might have been fancy but it worked.  One landed a blow; Scott and the others looked on while his face started to shift into his wolf form, his adult wolf form, and then back again.  The teen went on the offensive, his body growing several inches taller and wider in the hallway.  After landing a series of blows something called the monsters away, leaving Derek couched on the ground with his claws drawn.

"Derek?"  Malia asked gently, eyes shifting between the wolf and Stiles still bleeding on the concrete.  The man turned slowly, fighting agains the wave of memories that threatened to overwhelm him, and raised golden eyes to Scott.

 

* * *

 

"Why the hell didn't you get her out of there?"  Derek growled, standing next to the stainless steel table in the clinic, Stiles in front of him and ghostly pale.

"We did as soon as we could," Scott countered, "We were a little busy fighting off those monsters and trying to get you back from the she-devil you crawled out the window with!"

"None of this is helping," Melissa said, peeling off her blood stained gloves after stitching Stiles' torn skin back together.  "Both of you calm down or I will make you leave."  Derek growled in response but Melissa leveled a glare at him.  "I won't have either of you harming my patient and Stiles taught me a thing or two, I know where to find mountain ash."  The young man backed down and took a seat next to the table, the fight suddenly out of him.

"You're right, this is all my fault," He said, head hanging low.

"This is Kate's fault, not yours," Melissa said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "She kidnapped you and used you..."

"Again," Derek spat out bitterly.

"Still doesn't make it your fault," Melissa warned the young boy, "Stiles knew what she was doing and you would do the same for her.  That's why Kate made you young again, it was the only way you'd ever have listened to her.  What did she want?"

"Access to my family vault, for a talisman," Derek said quietly, taking Stiles' hand in his own.  "She's a were now, of some kind, and she's having trouble controlling her shift."

"One rabid thing I won't mind eating," Malia stated, the whole room turned and looked at her.  "Please, we're all thinking it."

"You're thinking it," Scott said.

"No, I think if we see her again we off the bitch," Malia stated.  "For what she did to Stiles tonight alone, forget everything she did to Derek.  For that though, I'd eat her while she was still alive."

"Can we please not discuss homicide, there's always another way of dealing with things," Scott replied.

"We'll agree to disagree," Malia growled, turning to Derek.  "I'll kill her for you."

"I'll kill her myself," Derek growled under his breath, looking at Stiles' slowly healing body.

"We have something else to worry about," Deaton interjected, bringing in a set of vials and powders.  "Stiles has a form of magic we've never seen before and it's starting to affect her. Look."  He lifted the slim wrist and turned it over, Stiles' veins were beginning to turn a darker, glowing red. "She must have used it more tonight that she has been the last few months.  I need to know anything and everything she might have come in contact with that's magical recently."

Scott and Derek shared a look before Derek slightly shook his head, Deaton did not need to know about Jinny or what she did to help them.  "Nogitsune possessed her again, and she kicked it's ass," Scott offered.  "Derek, you said she drained it's power or something."

"Or something, it just kind of seeped into the air," Derek replied, "But...we were in her mind when that happened."

"We'll need to draw it out of her," Deaton replied, preparing a knife and other herbs.  "If she's purged the demon then it's just power, we can direct it back into nature where it belongs."

"She's weak and she's lost a lot of blood," Melissa warned.  "Shouldn't we wait for her father?"

"See how it's spreading," Deaton pointed out, "We have to get it out now or she won't make it that long."  The red veins were spreading slowly, but still spreading.  "Are you sure this is Nogitsune's power?"

"I have no idea," Scott said.  "She's been doing more magic the last couple of months.  Could be that but I think she was practicing more before the Nogitsune came back.  Have we figured out how that happened yet?"

"Focus," Lydia said from the corner, bringing everyone back to how to save Stiles.  "How do we get the magic out of her?"

Deaton set up the herbs and vials around her in a circle, they started to glow slowly, a crystal at the top near her forehead.  "This should drain it out of her, Derek, take her hand and focus on her.  It'll help direct the magic into the crystal."  Derek did as instructed and saw the vials begin to glow more, the veins slowly retreating and the glow transferring to the crystal there.  It took on an orange glow that grew brighter the more her magic was drained.  The deathly sick color drained out of her veins slowly, as it did pure skin was left behind instead of the gaping claw wounds.  "What kind of power is this?"

"Have you ever known anything that can do that?"  Derek asked, it shouldn't have been possible for that kind of magic to heal a wound.  "What power is this?"

"It could be the magic she stole combined with her spark," Deaton mused, "No one's ever done that before.  Most of it is gone now but there's a last bit I can't get out, I haven't been working on her spark this is the magic she's stolen."

"Just leave it and keep moving," Derek ordered.  "Get that crystal contained and let me take Stiles home."  His wolf was itching below his skin, there were to many people around his wounded mate for him to be comfortable.  There were to many people that weren't pack and a rival alpha, whatever magic Kate had performed on him made his control as tenuous as it was in his youth.

 "I got your voicemail, what's going on..." Noah started as he walked in the room, paling as he saw his daughter laid out on the examination table, Derek sitting by her side.  "Derek, I'm happy you're back, but what the hell happened?"

"Kate's back," were the only words he supplied.  Forget everyone else in the room, for the first time in recent memory the elder Stilinski's face went dark with murderous intent.  "She got away, somehow she's been turned into a were.  She's got some Berserkers following her, not much can kill them.  Stiles got hurt getting us out of there, but she's had some type of magic that healed her, she'll be fine."

"Any idea where Kate went?"  The elder Stilinski asked, his hand resting on his gun belt.  Derek shook his head.  "Any way I can put an official APB out on her?"  Scott shook his head, the more civilians got involved the worse things would be overall.  "Can I take her home?"

"I'd like to keep her till she wakes up," Deaton said, taking away the crystals and locking them in a cupboard.

"I thought you were destroying those," Derek accused.  "Why are you putting them away?"

"I'll destroy them on the full moon," Deaton replied easily, putting the key to the cupboard back in his pocket.  "The ground will be more receptive to the magic then.  I promise you Derek, this magic will never harm anyone ever again.  If you and the Sheriff want to stay feel free, the rest of you should go, there's nothing more to be done tonight."  Scott and Lydia were both reluctant to leave, but with a promise of a text the moment Stiles was awake they agreed to finally leave her.  It was another two hours before Stiles woke up and Deaton was able to give her a clean bill of health.

"I'll call you out of school tomorrow," Noah said as Derek settled her in the back of the cruiser, laid against his lap and wrapped up safely in his arms.  He was loathe to ever let her go again.  "And I'll stay in."

"Derek stays with us," Stiles replied weakly, her own arms tucked around him.  "He's not going back to the loft."

"Stiles," Noah started.

"Derek stays with me," Stiles growled, curling even further into his chest.  "Non negotiable."

"Stiles, we've talk about..." Noah began.

"The last time you made him leave me he ended up in a coma in Mexico," Stiles shrieked, her face right next to the grating between the back and front seat.  "He could have been dead!  We still don't know what Kate wanted from him and she's still out there.  Derek's staying with me!"

"Stiles, it's ok," Derek said gently, trying to calm her down, aware that just three hours ago she was dying.  "Please, I'm right here."

"But you weren't," Stiles sobbed, turning and collapsing back in Derek's chest.  "You were gone Derek, you were just gone."  Derek just wrapped his arms around the girl and let her cry herself to sleep on his shirt.  Noah's mouth tightened to a grim line as he drove the three of them home.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting close to the end everyone, I'll reshuffle the chapters once everything is done in case people want to read in chronologically. Thank you again to anyone who's read this story, you make my day.


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